London Firemen Stikes
 

Firemen strike on Bonfire Night:
Cynical action by 'reckless union militants' will put lives at risk
* Two-day walkout starts on November 5
* MPs call for ban on emergency workers going on strike
* Militant sympathiser 'Red Len' McCluskey frontrunner for Unite General Secretary role



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz13RPxgArf



This is Evil.
The wrong time to Strike.


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Walk-out: Firefighters during the last Fire Service strikes in 2003.
This time they propose to strike on Bonfire Night








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"The Militant sympathiser who is front-runner to become general secretary of the Unite union yesterday gave the firemen encouragement by saying: ‘My experience is there is no such thing as an irresponsible strike.’
‘Red Len’ McCluskey, the mastermind of the British Airways walkout, made clear that he will support mass strike action to oppose the Government’s spending plans.
Mr McCluskey quotes Communist guerrilla leader Che Guevara and supported the views of the Militant Tendency in the 1980s."

Gonna endanger kids lifes because they want an extra 20p :mad:

Didn't they also do this a few years back at the exact same time?

It makes me laugh, people complain about this strike, but the firemen want a pay rise, and so they should, they save people's lives while putting theirs at risk. We'd be screwed without them.

People then complain that it's over bonfire night. Well, you know that the strikes are occuring, simple solution, don't have a bonfire or fireworks that night, wait 2 days until they are back. We choose to set fire to things on bonfire night, if we play with fire, we know the risks involved. (Obviously I'm not referring to accidental house fires, electrical fires etc.)


God I'm grumpy in the mornings :)

But why choose Bonfire weekend when it generally a kids holiday :/ & firemen know the pay when they take the job, they should'nt expect anymore than inflation.

Because it's the time when they will be listened to most.

For putting their lives at risk, I believe they should have more pay. We have footballers and bankers who are paid an over the top wage, yet somebody who puts their life on the line to save countless others is paid pittance.

:)

So you think its right for them to put other people's life at risk instead? 2 wrongs don't make a right, there are better ways. + £500 a week doesn't seem like a pittance to me.

Firemen, policemen, nurses, teachers, etc etc all CHOSE their professions - they were not frog marched to their interviews, nor had a gun to their head when they accepted the jobs, along with the terms and conditions which include generous subsidised housing, mortgages, and nice fat pensions, two thirds of which are funded by the taxpayer. Perhaps they would all prefer to join the dole queue and free up positions for those who would be grateful for such generous salary packages. After all no formal academic qualifications are required for entry into the fire service, and they offer free ongoing training throughout a fireman's career.

Holding the country to ransom yet again doesn't inspire any sympathy from me, especially in an economic climate where millions are unemployed and where workers in the private sector are being made redundant every day. I hope the government take swift action to bring in legislation to outlaw strikes in the emergency services. Bully boy tactics are reactionary and cynical and deserve no-one's support. After all striking on 5th November is a deliberate ploy to blackmail the country- so I hope they do NOT get what they want.

How considerate of them to withdraw their services on the one night they might actually have to get their arses in gear and actually do some fire fighting. And for the record, I was married to a fireman for 12 years and know full well that, despite what some would have you believe, most shifts are totally uneventful or otherwise consist of minor incidents.

As for comparing firemen's wages with those of footballers and bankers, don't let's forget actors, pop stars, models etc etc. What does that have to do with the price of bacon? How many people are aware, for instance, how little workers in the retail, distribution and catering sectors earn?

My brother is a fireman and a lot of them do not want to strike,but he cannot take the engine out on his own,and Angus you are right in the fact that most days are mundane and some none eventful,but there are times when he does come home stressed from a bad accident but he knows that is his job and he is quite happy doing it,the only thing that is worrying him at the moment is not his wages,as such,but his job, the fact that the services are being cut down,he would rather keep his job than lose it altogether.

My ex husband was the same - he loved his job, it was more a vocation than anything for him, and he hated the unions (at least we had that much in common!). He won several awards for bravery about which he was quite modest, since he was old school and believed that he was simply doing the job for which he had been superbly trained and which he had chosen.

The unions purport to be there to support their members, but many times its the workers whose jobs are on the line that suffer when imprudent and cynical strikes fail- the fat cat union bosses can then slink away back to their bloated lifestyles having left mayhem in their wake.

Striking at any time of the year is bad enough, but bonfire night? All that does for the public is fuel resentment at being held to ransom by the unions yet again.

Same with my brother Angus,he always wanted to be a fireman,he loves it most of the time,He worked at Shawbury and is now at the MOD,he has just come back from a course for promotion at Croughton,which will be a complete waste of time if they lose jobs,I will see him later,will find out some more if I can.Hopefully it wont happen.

Agree with this, there would never be a time they could strike that would be good - lives would always be at risk as are theirs every single day. I know they choose their vocation but thank god they do, I can't praise them highly enough and am more than happy for them to have a wage increase and they shouldn't have to strike to get it continuously. Its no surprice its on November 5 - the airlines choose the busiest travelling periods to strike its obviously going to be the time of biggest impact, its the unions that choose this. But theres no law to say we have to set off or attend firework displays - its for entertainment value and personal choice. And with all the benefit cuts, perhaps we should take the opportunity to use this as a cut back ourselves and save a bit of money.

Its optional for the people who start the fires/fireworks but the majority of fires are caused by stray flames/fireworks starting new fires. Its so so unresponsible to strike on a night when they are already strectched to the limits, people who NEED help whether they be elderly/disabled won't be able to get any help atall, why should they suffer so firefighters can get an extra 20p which they are obviously not entitled to. You can't give it the whole they risk their lives cr@p because they knew the salary when they took the job & I'm pretty sure working in Iraq is alot worse for similar pay :/

'the whole risk their lives crap' - that could be applied to our soldier as well then - not by me because I appreciate their risks as I do the Fire Service, but they knew the risks - by the same token yo can't use the 'there's always someone worse off' or someone doing a more dangerous jod card either or no one would ever do anything because theres always someone worse off. Fireworks are set off intentionally - reduce the risks = don't set them off

How pathetic of the fire service "i wontz moar moneh, fook the burnin howzez"

I mean "You can't use the whole risk their lives crap" as a bargaining chip when they already know the salary. Btw just FYI less than 2 firemen on average lose their lives each year so when you put that into perspective its not that risky compared with some other jobs. & you totally missed the point, I said most of the people who are affected by bonfires/fireworks are the people who didn't set them off so how is "don't set them off" relevent seeing as they don't have control over it :/

Choosing money over peoples lives. Gotta love society.

I didn't miss your point if they weren't set off in the first place no one could be hurt by them - I wasnt suggesting that only the people setting them off were at risk - being a fireman is still classed as a high risk job, no matter what the statistics. Imo I dont begrudge them the rise but its the unions that decide these things anyway - not the firemen

Ugh, I acknowledge that Unions should really exist and everything, but they can piss me off sometimes. This just seems completely selfish and innapropiate to me.

Yeah high risk job, any job with an average death stat is obv awful but in comparsion.. The fact of the matter is more people are likely to die as a result of the strike then firemen in their day to day lifes which seeing as how avoidable it all is is absolutely terrible. I realise its not actually the firemen but the unions yeah, they really should find a better way to get their point across & it should be illegal to strike in jobs where people depend on them for safety, like LJ said it's choosing money over people's lifes :(

Think its disgusting of them (those who actually want to strike).

They should enjoy their jobs and trying to keep people out of danger..

Wow, how responsible.

Shows how interested they really are in public safety eh? :wink:

Both the actual firefighters who are going on strike...AND the people who could just give them the extra 20p or whatever it would take to stop this.

Then again, they could give them the pay rise, and then they would know in future this is all they need to do to get their own way.

Toughie...

A question that comes to my mind is what about the innocent people who are victims of firework abuse. Last year a woman in my town was killed on bonfire night (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-...00911115441824) and this was simply because of firework abuse by people who had no idea of the dangers of fireworks. It's sad to think that people's lives are being risked all because of money problems. Okay the fire-fighters risk their lives on a daily basis, but surely there must be another way to get their point across, rather than risking other peoples lives. It's selfish if you ask me. I can almost imagine the terror of someone being stuck in their house whilst it's on fire, ringing up the emergency services and being told that there's no-one to help, all because of 20p. It's sickening.

I've got no sympathy for them, it's an idiotic time to strike and I actually hope it fails. If they do go ahead with it and anyone gets hurt then it's on their hands.

I am not a killjoy normally, I don't however like fireworks(despite being still a teen) or see the need to ceelbrate some figure like Guy Fawkes. Fireworks are becoming really nastier now, they also make more noise too,the worst part is that bonfire night seems to last at least a week now.
Animals are scared rotten, my pup hates the noise of fireworks.Mu family have to keep him in all the time on that night and many other nights too in the week.

I think, and its not a popular view,I accept I am well in the minority heer but if we must have the accursed bonfire night then it should be the 'one' night and only organised bonfires with strict supervision of setting off fireworks too.

Number one for me is that the Firemen/women do a fantastic job, I understand that the London dispute is over old and bnew contracts,not just about wages, I am 100% sure they don't want to strike on 5th November really,I don't like the Unions, they will have pointed out that maximum disturbance on a major night/s is the best way to get some deal,so that the firemen are put in a near impossible situation.

I hope they don't strike because I know if there are higher casualties if they do, it will always be down to the firemen striking and not the silly,incompetent people who allow bonfires to be had unattended and not supervised properly,and also the daft people whi think they are big taking risks in the way they light fireworks and then think its a great game to even trowm them around, not forgetting the daft loutish element that throw the cursed things through peoples letterboxes and also are so brainless and cruel they throw them at animals or even are sick enough to tie fireworks to animals tails.

Sometimes it is maddening to think of the stupid people that Firemen have to be there for and save.For celebrating an event from near 400 years ago of a figure who was trying to blow parliament up.
As I say, I hope the strike is halted,for the 'innocents' sakes.

Wouldnt really say Guy Fawkes is "celebrated".

Perhaps celebrate was the wrong phrase,but I will re-phrase it as to why do we bother with this archaeic night anyway,
They stick a guy on the bonfire so he is one of the main characters of the night,but I take your point its not necessarily celebtrating him, however what knocking on people's doors asking for penny for they guy is if its not him as the main focal point then I don't know what is.

Yes, the army had to step in

Yes, the army will have to step in again - the army, whose soldiers are on less pay than firemen; who risk their lives on a daily basis in some of the most dangerous places on earth, often without the benefit of proper equipment; who are away from their families for months on end, and who do not hold the country to ransom with irresponsible, selfish and cynically self serving strikes.

Yeah :(

I remember seeing the green engines. Forget the name of the appliance now. Green Duchess?

The Green Goddess, last used in the strike of 2002/3, but I think they have all been sold off now, and as far as I know only 27 fire engines are going to be available to the army for the whole of London!

Those 27 fire engines arent for the use by the Armed Forces. They have already been removed from service prior to strike as a contingency plan by the London Fire Brigade, they will be manned in the event of a strike by personnel provided by AssetCo.

Its about one fifth of the number of engines normally available. It is to stop any possible extension of the strike by the fire unions claiming breach of picket lines etc. And to be able to provide emergency response with minimal conflict between picketing strikers and contracted firefighters.

If the Mayor, City Council and London Fire Service are not happy with the contingency cover, they can request additional assistance from the Armed Forces. Initially from the RAF stations in and around London, but if the strike was to be extended then it would be nationwide support from the services.

Goddess. Thats it. I thought that at first then thought it didn't sound right :blush:

27 for London? Thats madness

I think its disgraceful. Clearly doing it to grab attention but its actually putting real lives at risk. And these people are supposed to be heroic? Nothing heroic about putting lives at risk over potential job cuts. All sectors are cutting back.

Army, police and prison officers cannot strike and I think firefighters should be added to that list. If you dont like it then don't become a bloody firefighter! Some services are just too essential to be messed with by jumped up union leaders.

"Some services are just too essential to be messed with by jumped up union leaders. "


Bang on Right.
Zippy.

Well at least AssetCo are primarily trained in firefighting, but the sparsity of available vehicles is still a disgrace for a city the size of London.

If anyone loses life or property because of this strike, I hope they sue the unions for compensation - I bloody would.

Not all the firemen will be behind the strike. The Army, who do dangerous and thankless work all over the world, will probably have to step in. But while the firemen are being portrayed as money-grabbing, leftie layabouts the soldiers are being portrayed as plaster saints. In reality, it's not such a big deal for the servicemen to cover the Fire Service for 24 hours. Most of them will have spent some time in Afghanistan lately. I know what I'd rather be doing.

If you want to blame someone for this, blame the unions.

Because of the limited duration of the strike, the services will simply use trained firemen within the services. If it is extended at a later date or further longer strikes are called then it will be treat as another detachment/roulement duty by the forces and people will have to take turns at it.

Given the repeated demands on some servicemen at the time with the variety of overseas deployments etc for some it will be the last straw. It happened 2002/03 when another strike was called. The Union Leaders at that time reckoned that the government would cave in quickly because of the service manpower requirements for Afghanistan and Iraq.

The number of fire tenders available for strike cover was decided on by the Leaders of the London Fire Brigade following experience during previous strikes. At least the tenders are modern unlike the Bedford RL based Green Goddess.

The Evil Union
in London Striked today.

And the Evil Union members at some stations
blocked the non striking crews
they had to go to a nearby Shop Car Park.

ITV London Local News