Latest editorial
FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack speaks at the unions 2023 conference in Blackpool
[Mark Thomas]
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.
Since 2010, one in five firefighter jobs has disappeared alongside 30% funding cuts — all while climate breakdown brings record blazes and flooding. It’s time to fund our fire service properly, writes FBU general secretary STEVE WRIGHT
We are experiencing a wave of organised, often deadly violence targeting migrants from other parts of Africa — but the poorest South Africans reject this hatred, staying true to the spirit of Ubuntu and Pan-African unity, reports NIGEL BRANKEN
