[A-List] UK labour militancy & public order

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Classic -- the Leader of the House of Commons tells others to modernise
their working practices...


Fire union tried to push left-winger on to inquiry
By Barrie Clement and Ben Russell
The Independent, 28 October 2002

Firefighters' leaders made a covert attempt to influence the membership of
the Bain inquiry into pay and modernisation of the fire service, it was
revealed yesterday.

Fire Brigades Union officials have refused to take part in the inquiry
headed by Professor Sir George Bain. But it is now known that the FBU urged
Rodney Bickerstaffe, the left-wing former leader of the public service union
Unison, to take up one of three seats on the high-profile committee.

Mr Bickerstaffe refused after Andy Gilchrist, general secretary of the FBU,
made it clear that his union would continue to lambast the inquiry publicly
despite the former Unison leader's membership. Fire authorities had
indicated they would have accepted Mr Bickerstaffe's participation.

Sir Tony Young, former leader of the Communication Workers' Union, took up
the place on the recommendation of the TUC and promptly rubbished the FBU's
demands for a pay rise of nearly 40 per cent, to take basic pay to £30,000 a
year.

There were signs last night that the union would be prepared to hold talks
on the basis of a pay offer of 16 per cent. Mick Shergold, London Secretary
of the FBU, said: "If the employers put 16 per cent on the table, that would
be a good point to start negotiations."

But he warned that such an offer would not satisfy most fire crews. "My
position and undoubtedly the position of most firefighters I have met this
week is they are more determined than I have ever seen before," he said.

Professor Bain is expected to produce an interim statement from his review
in the next two weeks, which is likely to intensify efforts to find a
solution to the pay dispute.

The statement is likely to outline the inquiry's broad thinking on issues
such as pay structures and working patterns, but will not make specific
recommendations of pay rates. Professor Bain has steadfastly refused to
bring forward the inquiry's full report, saying that the inquiry can either
be done "thoroughly or quickly, not both".

Local authority leaders will meet today ahead of fresh talks this week. The
FBU agreed to meet employers after cancelling two 48-hour strikes following
intensive talks with John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister.

Strikes planned for tomorrow and Wednesday and from Saturday to Monday will
now not go ahead, so the FBU can meet local authority employers on Wednesday
and Thursday. But an eight-day strike could start on 6 November, followed by
further walkouts until Christmas Eve.

Ministers welcomed the development, but insisted that any pay deal had to be
linked to reform. Robin Cook, the Leader of the Commons, told the BBC's
Breakfast with Frost programme that any pay rise for firefighters would have
to be based on an agreement to modernise working practices.