FIREFIGHTERS must show the same collective solidarity in 2024’s pay negotiations as they did this year when they won a double-digit deal from employers, Fire Brigades Union (FBU) head Matt Wrack urged today.

He told delegates at the union’s 2023 conference in Blackpool that another show of “unity, discipline and union loyalty” is essential to ensure they get the wages and working conditions they deserve.

Firefighters were originally offered a massively below-inflation pay deal of just 2 per cent, but, following an overwhelming vote for national strike action, a much-improved deal of 7 per cent backdated to July 2022 and a further 5 per cent from this July was accepted.