Report - Fire Brigades Union

More documents

Recommendations

Info

SECTION C — TUC AND LABOUR MOVEMENT TUC congress. Sis Samuels spoke of the need to continue to give much vital support to the plight of the Haitian people. She further highlighted the horrors that Haitian people were having to endure. Conference was reminded that Haiti fought for her freedom against the British, French, and Dutch empires and became the first free nation governed by former slaves. A country of rich potential was now the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. C12 International The executive council’s international committee continued to meet in 2010. The intention is for the committee to have an overview of the union’s international relations and setting priorities. FBU executive council member Michael Nicholas was reelected to the race relations committee for 2010-2011. C11 Institute of Employment Rights The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) was established in February 1989. It is an independent organisation acting as a focal point for the spread of new ideas in the field of labour law. In 1994 the institute became a registered charity. Members of the institute include: ● the general secretaries of most of the trade unions in the UK; The international work of the union is divided into two broad areas: industrial matters concerning relations with firefighter and other trade unions in other countries, and solidarity work supporting international movements in line with FBU policies and principles. Annual conference saw several resolutions with an international theme passed and these are being progressed through the union’s structures. Annual conference 2010 heard from Jorge Gamboa, an executive member of CUT, the largest union federation in Colombia, which led oil workers in a campaign against privatisation in 2007-08. Since CUT was founded in 1986, some 2,700 trade unionists have been murdered and Jorge himself was the subject of an assassination attempt by police. Gamboa urged the FBU to join the campaign to free trade unionists and political prisoners from Colombian jails. ● ● a selection of labour law academics; and legal practitioners who specialise in representing unions and their members. General secretary Matt Wrack visited Colombia between 20-25 July as part of an international delegation including trade unionists. Members meet once a year to give direction to the work of the institute. The day-to-day affairs are managed by an executive committee which is elected by the members. Bro Matt Wrack has again been elected onto this committee. The institute is funded by donations and subscription fees, sales of publications and seminar receipts. The institute itself is a relatively small organisation. The work is commissioned on a voluntary basis and reflects the views of the authors. The results of the work of the institute are published in booklets available for sale or through annual subscription. The institute also provides short articles (free of legal jargon) for trade union journals and other popular publications. The FBU continues to purchase these publications for distribution amongst officials. It organises seminars on topics of particular importance and holds occasional lectures. FBU members and officials continue to attend these events held in Liverpool and London. The FBU is currently working with the IER on the extent and implications of Section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, dismissal and re-engagement, which is being used with increased regularity. In September the FBU sent a delegation to Brussels for a “no to austerity” demonstration called by the European Trade Union Confederation. This was attended by around 100,000 trade unionists from across Europe and, despite the relatively small size of the FBU delegation, the national banner and three regional banners were carried the length of the march. The union continues to be active within various international solidarity campaigns, particularly: ● Cuba Solidarity Campaign; ● Palestine Solidarity Campaign; ● Justice for Colombia. C13 FBU parliamentary group In addition to our strategy meetings and ongoing programme of work, full meetings of the FBU parliamentary group were held in January, June, October and December 2010. This is less frequent than would usually be the case due to the general election campaign period and the subsequent delay in forming the coalition government. A parliamentary lobby was organised for 17 November. Group members addressed the FBU rally which was held in Methodist Central Hall before the parliamentary lobby. 88 FBU Annual Report 2011
SECTION C — TUC AND LABOUR MOVEMENT The group, comprising 28 Labour MPs, has used every parliamentary mechanism available to further the FBU’s aims in a number of policy areas, including: ● flooding and the Pitt review; ● the FiReControl project; ● firefighter safety; ● firefighter pensions; ● fire service funding cuts; ● Fire Futures; ● the London dispute. Over the year the group tabled a total of 11 early day motions (EDMs) and 43 written questions, as well as supporting other EDMs in line with the union’s policies. There have been numerous interventions on the floor of the House by members of the group in support of the FBU, asking oral questions and contributing to debates on legislation and policy matters in both the Commons and the Lords. Members have also written seven letters to government ministers, seeking meetings or information on specific policy matters. A significant part of the group’s work for the union continued to focus on the ballooning cost and delay in the FiReControl project which the Labour government embarked upon in 2002 after the need for upgrading control rooms was officially acknowledged. The coalition government eventually announced the scrapping of the project at the end of December and the group will make the case in 2011 for the long overdue upgrade of control rooms which remains outstanding. The Pitt review’s call in 2007 for the creation of a statutory duty for the fire service to respond to flooding emergencies continued to be resisted by the Labour government. Group members made repeated efforts to amend the Flood and Water Management Bill to reflect Pitt’s recommendation but could not persuade the government to accept these amendments during the bill’s passage through the Commons and the Lords. The group has represented these concerns to the new government and has encountered a similar attempt to evade the clear implications of Pitt’s recommendation to create an appropriate statutory duty. Other aspects of the parliamentary process have been used to press the case for statutory duty and the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee’s inquiry into future flooding and water management legislation has recommended to the government that it accepts the FBU’s argument for creating a statutory duty, in line with Pitt’s recommendation four years ago. Health and safety was also a key campaign area for the group in the year past. Lord Young of Graffham’s appointment by David Cameron to an advisory role on health and safety issues was quickly followed by media interviews in which Lord Young made a number of provocative comments, chief amongst them being the ambition to “remove the police and the fire service from health and safety legislation”. Subsequent meetings between the union and Lord Young established that this was not a serious threat to the health and safety of public servants but political posturing. However, the Trade Union Coordinating Group, of which the FBU is a founder member, will continue to monitor the government’s intentions on health and safety and will hold a lobby of Parliament on 2 March 2011 The lack of national standards in reporting firefighter injuries and the increase in fatalities in recent years was highlighted to the government and this remains an area of ongoing work for the group. In June the coalition government appointed the former Labour cabinet minister John Hutton to head a review of public sector pensions. This signalled the new administration’s determination to force through cuts to all public sector pension schemes, including the three which apply to firefighters. The group supported the FBU’s submission to the review and noted the interim report’s indication that Hutton will propose reforms of the fire service pension schemes. The new government’s spending cuts will hit all public services hard and the fire service will be no exception, despite George Osborne’s misleading comment in his Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) statement in October that: “In recognition of the important service provided by the fire and rescue service, we have decided to limit its budget reductions in return for substantial operational reform.” The CSR, in fact, announced a 13% cut in central government funding of the fire service, a 25% cut in local government funding and a two-year freeze on council tax. The Fire Futures review, chief fire officers appointed by the government to propose reform of fire and rescue services, estimates that the fire and rescue service faces a 30% budget cut over the next four years. The government also stated that decisions on making cuts to local fire service budgets will be taken by individual fire authorities. London MPs in the group worked to highlight the shocking decision taken by the London fire commissioner Ron Dobson and the chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, Cllr Brian Coleman, to issue sacking notices to all 5,557 London firefighters to force them to agree to changes to shift patterns. The group highlighted this disgraceful attack on basic employment rights and industrial relations. MPs also pointed out the basic threat to public safety of Brian Coleman’s decision to take 27 fire appliances out of fire stations across the capital and to hand them to strike breaking firm AssetCo. The fire engines remain out of public service and the group is working with the union to get these appliances back into the fire stations they belong to. The Fire Futures review reported in mid-December on its initial suggestions for future reform of the fire and rescue service. The group is trying to establish when the government intends to respond to these, chief amongst which is greater integration with the ambulance service. We continue to look at ways to work with non-Labour parliamentarians, as well as increasing the active core of the group. FBU Annual Report 2011 89
Page 1:
The Fire Brigades Union Executive C
Page 4 and 5:
MICK SHAW President MATT WRACK Gene
Page 6 and 7:
Executive council members (continue
Page 8 and 9:
Section D Pensions 91 Section E AIF
Page 10 and 11:
8 FBU Annual Report 2011
Page 12 and 13:
Page 14 and 15:
SECTION A — NATIONAL JOINT COUNCI
Page 16 and 17:
Page 18 and 19:
Page 20 and 21:
Page 22 and 23:
Page 24 and 25:
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
SECTION B — FIRE AND RESCUE SERVI
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41: SECTION B — FIRE AND RESCUE SERVI
Page 84 and 85: SECTION C — TUC AND LABOUR MOVEME
Page 94 and 95: SECTION D — PENSIONS On 8 Decembe
Page 96 and 97: SECTION D — PENSIONS included pap
Page 98 and 99: SECTION E — AIF 2010 Accident and
Page 100 and 101: SECTION F — LEGAL REPORT absence
Page 102 and 103: SECTION F — LEGAL REPORT brunt of
Page 104 and 105: SECTION G — INTERNAL ADMINISTRATI
Page 140 and 141:
SECTION G — INTERNAL ADMINISTRATI
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
SECTION H — EDUCATION The review
Page 146 and 147:
SECTION H — EDUCATION The final s
Page 148 and 149:
SECTION H — EDUCATION two worksho
Page 150 and 151:
SECTION H — EDUCATION The new FBU
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
SECTION I — FAIRNESS AT WORK Ther
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
SECTION J — HEALTH & SAFETY shown
Page 160 and 161:
SECTION J — HEALTH & SAFETY WCPSs
Page 162 and 163:
SECTION J — HEALTH & SAFETY a num
Page 164 and 165:
SECTION J — HEALTH & SAFETY These
Page 166 and 167:
SECTION J — HEALTH & SAFETY CFOA
Page 168 and 169:
SECTION K — ACCOUNTS 2010 AND FIN
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186:
show all

Report - Fire Brigades Union

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?