UK Firefighters to Vote on Strike Action

Facts

• Following discussion between Fire Brigades Union (FBU) branches and its executive council on Fri., the FBU announced on Tues. that UK firefighters and firefighter control staff are set to ballot on strike action.
• The FBU’s 32.5K members will vote on whether to hold the union’s first industrial action in a decade, having rejected a June offer of a 2% pay raise which hasn’t been increased despite rising inflation.
• The Bank of England (BOE) has forecast that inflation, currently at 10.1%, will hit more than 13% in the coming months. Some have even estimated it could hit 18% next year.
• A 2% pay rise therefore represents a “significant real-terms pay cut”, according to the FBU, which announced its intention to hold a strike ballot just hours before new PM Liz Truss took office on Tuesday.
• The news comes as the incoming Conservative leader faces a so-called ‘summer of discontent’, with a variety of groups in the public sector — including rail workers and barristers — reportedly planning strike action in the coming weeks.
• The FBU vote is expected to take place in five weeks.

Sources: FBU, Times, Canary, Daily Mail, and The Sun.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by The Guardian. Strike action is always a last resort, but there’s absolutely no question that firefighters must take steps to secure fair pay. These public servants risk their lives and can now no longer afford to live — the ball is in the court of the fire service employers to offer decent wages in the current economy.
• Right narrative, as provided by Telegraph. While fair pay is inarguably important, going on strike isn’t the way to get there. The continuous threat of industrial action hinders life-saving services, putting Brits everywhere at risk. The case against industrial action couldn’t be clearer.