UK fire chiefs accused of 'hiding' fire apparatus

[x635 4,066]

'Last chance' for deal as London firefighters vote to strike

Dick Murray, Transport Correspondent

14.10.10

London firefighters have voted an overwhelming 79 percent for strike action in a row over working conditions.

They threaten the worst dispute since the national fire strike eight years ago when troops were called in to drive fire engines.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23887963-last-chance-for-deal-as-london-firefighters-vote-to-strike.do

[efdcapt115 1,511]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23887963-last-chance-for-deal-as-london-firefighters-vote-to-strike.do

This is a very complicated situation at London Fire Brigade. They obviously don't have anything like the "Taylor Law." From what I've been able to learn piecing together newspaper stories, and reading other firefighting websites, The 27 pieces of fire apparatus were taken to a secret location to be readied and staffed by this company:

http://www.assetco.com/Our-Clients/London-Fire-Brigade.aspx

As best as I can explain the situation:

Back in August EVERY SINGLE London Fire Brigade member (over 5,000 Uniformed employees) was given a 90 day notice of termination. The City plans on "sacking" (firing) the entire uniformed department, then rehiring back those who will come back to the job; abolishing the preexisting contract with the FBU and enacting a new work schedule, new pension rules and over a 20 percent pay cut.

This has been planned for some time, as LFB contracted with "assetco" a couple of years ago, who now with a strike on the horizon will provide 700 civilian personnel to staff those 27 hidden rigs. Currently in the strangest of worlds, assetco provides rigs and operators to the LFB, yet they are a separate, private entity within the London Fire Brigade! Imagine having to work in a union/non-union shop! But that's what London Fire Brigade has become.

Now that the union has voted to strike, if and when they do, these 700 civilian members will cross picket lines, and try to do the entire job of the London Fire Brigade. Of course, there won't be anything like "interior attack" by "assetco" members; they just operate the rigs now, so fires will be fought "defensively." That means protecting the surrounding buildings that aren't burning. 700 scabs, divided into shifts, trying to do the work of the third largest fire organization in the world. The work of over 5,000 firefighters. While management goes about firing the entire workforce, busting the union, and decimating the job. What a bloody disgrace.

If the parties don't reach a settlement before the November firing deadline, and the Uniformed Brigade members strike, it's going to be extremely ugly for the City of London. People will die needlessly at the very least, as well as fires will burn with skeleton scab crews I guess trying to flow some lines to try and protect exposures.

London is about to burn.

Edit: 27 rigs. Currently London Fire Brigade staffs over 160 stations.

Edited October 15, 2010 by efdcapt115

[abaduck 123]

Well said Cap, the situation in London is pretty bad:

LFB Support page on Facebook

Yep no Taylor Law in UK; the only people banned from striking by law are police and armed forces; they're Crown Servants who have taken an oath. Which is as it should be in a free country; if you want a no-strike deal, negotiate a contract that includes one - don't impose it by law!

The assetco guys don't operate the rigs day-to-day as far as I can figure, that's all done by the regular crews. They're just civilians trained as reserve FFs.

And it's not just the 700 scabs, the management will probably attempt to crew rigs themselves. Which could be more entertaining than useful...

[Alpinerunner 61]

It would be like vollies trying to run the FDNY, haha.

[Mark Z 18]

It would be like vollies trying to run the FDNY, haha.

I much as I would love to volunteer WITH the FDNY, there is NO WAY IN H**L I would ever stab them in the back and volunteer in order to strikebreak and I would bet that most volunteers feel the same way. (I hope!)

[Guest TCA-ALS25]

Well said Cap, the situation in London is pretty bad:

LFB Support page on Facebook

Yep no Taylor Law in UK; the only people banned from striking by law are police and armed forces; they're Crown Servants who have taken an oath. Which is as it should be in a free country; if you want a no-strike deal, negotiate a contract that includes one - don't impose it by law!

The assetco guys don't operate the rigs day-to-day as far as I can figure, that's all done by the regular crews. They're just civilians trained as reserve FFs.

And it's not just the 700 scabs, the management will probably attempt to crew rigs themselves. Which could be more entertaining than useful...

On my last trip to London in '05, I made friends with some of the crew from the station up the road from my hotel (A23 Euston). I'm a little surprised to hear about this "assetco," but in all of England, the fire brigades are county-level operations and are usually a mix of "whole time (full-time)," part time (usually staffing days only or M-F, as determined by volume) and "retained" stations. "Retained" is the British term for volunteers. They train alongside to career FFs and receive a county stipend for being active and responding to a minimum of calls and training sessions. I can assume "assetco" is something along the same lines. Since 9/11 and the 7/7/05 bombings, the LFB has substantially increased things like heavy rescue companies (Euston's A236 was fairly new) and other terrorism responses. Its a shame the LFB is now using them as a leverage against the career members to break the union, though.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

London firefighters are to stage two crippling one-day strikes starting on 23 October, it was announced today.

The first strike, in which London will only be served by 27 fire engines, will be followed by a further stoppage on Monday 1 November with the warning of more to come after that.

Each strike will be for eight hours starting at 10am and finishing at 6pm.

It threatens the worst strikes by firefighters since the national stoppage eight years ago when troops were deployed - but they won't be used this time.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) insists it has contingency measures in place to deal with emergency situations - the capital remains on high alert as a result of the continuing terrorist threat.

The LFB has already withdrawn 27 fire engines - almost a fifth of London's fleet - and has them ready to use during strike days.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23888454-london-firefighters-announce-strike-dates.do

[abaduck 123]

On my last trip to London in '05, I made friends with some of the crew from the station up the road from my hotel (A23 Euston). I'm a little surprised to hear about this "assetco," but in all of England, the fire brigades are county-level operations and are usually a mix of "whole time (full-time)," part time (usually staffing days only or M-F, as determined by volume) and "retained" stations. "Retained" is the British term for volunteers. They train alongside to career FFs and receive a county stipend for being active and responding to a minimum of calls and training sessions. I can assume "assetco" is something along the same lines. Since 9/11 and the 7/7/05 bombings, the LFB has substantially increased things like heavy rescue companies (Euston's A236 was fairly new) and other terrorism responses. Its a shame the LFB is now using them as a leverage against the career members to break the union, though.

Cap, as near as I can figure, 'Assetco' started as a means of outsourcing fleet maintenance etc. It then evolved into Assetco also training some hundreds of people as 'reserve firefighters' for use in civil emergency situations - natural disasters etc. Unstated but very probably in management minds was also the idea of using these Assetco people as scabs in the event of a strike.

'Retained' isn't really synonymous with 'volunteer'. It's more like paid-per-call. They get paid an annual bounty or retainer, they're obliged to respond to all calls during their duty hours, all tracked by computers with clocking-in and out, and they get paid union rates for time spent responding and training. They're considered part-time career firefighters, if that makes sense, and they join the union.