Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) have voted to accept the latest pay offer from the employers: 96% accepted the offer on an 84% turnout. The deal is for a 7% pay rise for 2022-23, and 5% from July 2023.
The union makes the point that firefighters’ pay is determined via direct negotiation with the employers through collective bargaining. This is in contrast to recommendations by a supposedly ‘independent’ pay review bodies, stuffed with ‘experts’ from business and banking, as happens in the NHS and teaching.
The improvement on the original 5% offer has come about as a result of the threat of strike action, in a massive vote to strike by FBU members. The crisis-ridden Tory government is besieged by fighting workers from all angles.
As FBU general secretary Matt Wrack has said, 7% still falls well below RPI inflation for 2022-23, which has been as high as 14%. Socialist Party members in the FBU believed more could have been won from this divided government through action.
However, we understand that many firefighters would have wanted to bank this offer, particularly given that the union leadership was recommending acceptance.
