Hannah Chapman, Oxford Socialist Party
Fire Brigades Union (FBU) members from stations all around Oxfordshire gathered in Slade Park fire station on 3 December to discuss cuts to the fire service suggested by the Lib Dem county council.
These cuts would include the outright closure of Eynsham, Woodstock, and Henley fire stations. Rewley Road and Kidlington fire stations would be ‘merged’, though without clear plans on how such a merger would be organised! 42 firefighters face redundancy, and those who remain would have to work unsafe 12-hour shifts.
Oxfordshire’s fire service has already been the victim of austerity. In the last ten years, 100 firefighter positions have been cut.
These cuts have had consequences. Average response time has increased from less than nine minutes to more than 11. That’s two minutes worse than the national average in a situation where every second counts. And the council wants to keep cutting!
The assembled FBU members were united in their disgust for the plans. If these cuts are forced through, they will likely be paid in the blood of residents and firefighters. The FBU is standing firmly against the consultation, and has suggested that industrial action should not be ruled out as a potential response.
The Socialist Party supports the FBU in the face of vicious austerity. We encourage all union branches, whose members are being impacted by cuts, to support a people’s budget for Oxfordshire. Uniting the working class like this can end the vicious austerity that hurts us all.
