FBU conference:
Preparing For More Battles
THE ANNUAL conference of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
will reconvene in Southport on 15 June to discuss calling a national strike
ballot. This is after its conference was adjourned on 11 May after the union
voted to withdraw from implementation of the June 2003 national pay deal.
Ken Smith
The union’s leadership called for the conference to be
adjourned after the employers refused to agree payment of a 3.5% pay rise
held back since last November.
The FBU have now withdrawn from the agreement and urged
conference delegates to go back to their brigades to prepare for possible
industrial action.
However, left activists in the union felt that the
breakdown of negotiations was seized upon by a leadership desperate to avoid
a vote on the union breaking its links with the Labour Party, either through
a complete disaffiliation from the party or by democratising its funds. This
debate was scheduled for 12 May.
Either way, the vote would have represented an
’embarrassing’ setback for the FBU and Labour Party leaders. And the FBU
leaders, in jumping out of one sticky corner have landed themselves in
another one which appears to be even narrower.
Also, there was suspicion that the FBU leaders would use
the intervening month to prepare a witch-hunt against leading FBU activists
who are challenging for more accountability and democracy in the union.
Before the conference, left activists were informed by
the press that an investigation was being conducted into them which could
lead to them being barred from union office for a specified period or even
for life. It was felt that this was designed to stop them standing in any
national FBU election.
It was clear in the limited time the conference did meet
that the leadership around Andy Gilchrist were going to face a tough time.
In the opening hour of the conference the standing orders committee was
overturned four times and the address of FBU President Ruth Winters,
attempting to defend the pay deal and conduct of last year’s strike action
went down like the proverbial lead balloon.
After an hour of fraternal addresses the conference
adjourned for an emergency national executive followed by delegation
meetings.
Best deal?
WHEN THE conference reconvened, it heard TUC general
secretary Brendan Barber and debated two emergency resolutions around the
issue of whether or not the conference would continue.
Brendan Barber attempted to win support for the
leadership by saying that last year’s FBU deal was "one of the best
deals for any group in the public sector", only to be met with laughs
of derision.
Moving the emergency resolution from the executive
committee (EC), FBU general secretary Andy Gilchrist said that it was a myth
that the FBU had always engaged in "a spirit of partnership" on
the 2003 pay agreement which had now been thrown into "serious
jeopardy" by the employers. He also warned that the "government
had no intention of making partnership a reality".
He appealed for union members to show the maximum unity
and leave aside divisions over the pay deal and the Labour Party. He called
for challenges to the leadership to be left aside for now.
However, recognising the leadership was not going to get
away with postponing the conference for another year, he was forced to give
a commitment that it would reconvene at exactly the same point within a
month.
The second emergency resolution from the London region
had the same terms as the EC resolution but called for the conference to
continue. Matt Wrack from London explained why the conference should
continue to better prepare the members for action.
He said that London had huge concerns about last year’s
deal which "should not have been settled without clarification on
certain key issues." And whilst agreeing that the union needed to
prepare for a battle he argued: "The decisions of this conference are
central to winning back the hearts and minds of the members. We have not had
a conference for two years and key issues like our link with the Labour
Party need addressing if we are going to reinvigorate our members."
This was reinforced by Tony Maguire from Northern
Ireland who said to applause: "FBU officials that were once trusted are
now doubted… the Labour Party has stabbed us in the heart, we have to come
away from this conference with the sham of a link to the Labour Party well
and truly severed."
Anger at New Labour
All the speakers who argued for continuing the
conference were enthusiastically supported but it was clear that the
leadership’s argument for unity against the bosses was likely to be carried.
FBU general secretary Andy Gilchrist urged London to
withdraw its resolution calling for the conference to continue. Matt Wrack
replying said he recognised the mood of conference but he warned the EC:
"Don’t let us down… we expect unity to apply in all parts of the
union and on that basis we will withdraw."
THERE WILL now be an expectation that the FBU leadership
must either come up with an improved offer from the Labour employers or that
the union will prepare for effective national action if the employers remain
intransigent on key issues like night-time stand-down time – one of the most
contentious part of the bosses’ ‘modernisation’ package.
The employers’ stand will intensify the anger against
Labour at local and national level and is more likely to push the union in
the direction of disaffiliating from the Labour Party when the conference
reconvenes.
