Bonfire Night Warning As Firefighters Strike

Firefighters in England and Wales will go on strike this evening even though it could be one of the busiest days of the year for the service ahead of Bonfire Night and Diwali celebrations.

Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) will walk out from 6.30pm to 11pm, and again for two hours from 6am next Monday - the day before Bonfire Night on November 5.

The union went on strike last month but called off another stoppage when a deal appeared to be in sight.

However, officials said the Government and fire employers failed to offer guarantees on jobs or pensions as a result of changes to the pension age from 55 to 60.

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said firefighters were keen for the issue to be resolved through discussion but the Government was ignoring its own evidence, which indicates the schemes are unworkable and unaffordable.

He told Sky News: "We have been trying to negotiate pensions for nearly three years now and it is very frustrating fro our members and firefighters across the country.

"We want a pension scheme that works, that takes account of the job that firefighters actually do, and the Government is completely ignoring the evidence and is expecting firefighters to be working on the frontline, going into burning buildings at 60 or beyond in order to get their pension. That's simply unrealistic and dangerous."

Mr Wrack said older firefighters would be "expected to perform the full range of roles that an 18 or 20-year-old would do, and meet the same fitness standards.

He added: "We have tried to avoid strike action for as long as possible. No firefighter wants to go on strike. We have deliberately chosen not to call action on the busiest nights ... so we have tried to do what we can to keep people as safe as possible.

"The general advice for people around Bonfire Night is to attend organised events."

Peter Holland, the government's chief fire and rescue adviser, told Sky News "firefighters can work up to 60".

"Indeed, there are 500 across the country who are working up to that age," he said.

"With the right fitness testing procedures, training on fire stations ... firefighters can keep themselves fit, and there are no firefighters who are going to come under pressure to retire prematurely. If they want to retire at 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 they can do. That's built in to the scheme.

"Those firefighters who reach 55 who do have medical problems will be dealt with through an ill health process which the Fire Brigades Union are very happy with."

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said its emergency response service would be "severely reduced" because of the strike.

Chief Fire Officer James Courtney said: "Don't hold your bonfire or fireworks display tonight.

"We're satisfied with the contingency arrangements we are putting in place, but our 999 service will still be severely depleted so we need the public to help keep our fire engines available for real emergencies."

Fire Minister Brandon Lewis said: "This strike action by the FBU is completely unnecessary and does nothing but damage the good reputation firefighters have with the public.

"We offered firefighters similar fitness principles to those the FBU accepted in Scotland. The FBU should reconsider their decision to strike - announced just four days into discussions - and work for a resolution to this dispute.

"The public will be baffled by the FBU's course of action when they hear that the deal being offered to firefighters gives them one of the most generous pension schemes in all the public sector.

"A firefighter who earns £29,000, and retires after a full career aged 60, will get a £19,000 a year pension, rising to £26,000 with the state pension.

"An equivalent private pension pot would be worth over half a million pounds and require firefighters to contribute twice as much."

The union has said the figures were a "myth".