West Yorkshire fire crews set for strike action

Although next Thursday will be the thirteenth period of strike action, it is the longest so far which brigade chiefs admit will pose a real challenge.

A further seven hour strike will take place on June 21 starting at 10am.

Chief Fire Officer Simon Pilling said: “We are very disappointed that a resolution to this ongoing dispute between the FBU and Government has not been found.

“Although we have tried and tested contingency plans, there is no escaping the fact that we will have less skilled resource available during this prolonged period.

“The level of cover and the standard of expertise at our disposal during strike will be significantly reduced, therefore I urge the public to take note of this and do their bit to help us by staying vigilant.”

Around half the brigade’s fleet of 54 fire engines will be available and cover will be provided by those not striking as well as 49 Community Response Operatives (CROs).

The decision for strike action relates to an on-going trade dispute between the FBU and the Government over its public sector pension reform programme. In particular current proposals to introduce a new Firefighters’ Pension Scheme from April 2015 to replace the two current pension schemes that most operational personnel are members of.

The FBU has also announced plans to take action short of strike (ASOS) between 9am on June 13 and 10am on June 21.

ASOS is where employees can refuse to undertake certain parts of their role short of a full strike action.