The magazine of the Fire Brigades Union > www.fbu.org.uk August/September 2010

Firefighter safety under attack Union hits back See p14

Workforce development How to do it right See p16 and the Blitz How the war changed the serviceSee and p12 the FBU Investment not cuts FBU national rally and lobby See p7 The fights of the past and the fights of the future This issue of your families have preserved the stories, equipment was incompatible. The threat magazine includes an press articles, letters and memorabilia of bombing forced huge changes in article on the role of that bring to life the human side of these policy and legislation and the FBU was firefighters – and the historic events. By ensuring these stories at the centre of those debates. FBU – during the Blitz. can be told they have performed a great This meant that after the war a new This backs up a book service to firefighters and especially to fire service was created on a genuinely we are due to publish commemorating the FBU. modernised basis. New legislation, these events and the men and structures and standards ensured that women who sacrificed so much to Turning point our service and our profession were protect communities against such The mass bombing of UK cities during able to meet the challenges of the enormous odds. the second world war marked a turning 20th century – albeit a little late. The We are extremely grateful to those point for the fire service and for our fire service became a national service who assisted in the research for this union. Before the war the fire service delivered locally and it established a fine book – and for the film which will was hugely fragmented – firefighters reputation throughout the world. accompany it. Many of those involved from neighbouring brigades were often Today, with all the talk of are sadly no longer with us, but many not able to work together because their “modernisation”, anything that Contents 10 FBU members in the Blitz – extracts Features from a new book 10 FIREFIGHTERS AND THE BLITZ commissioned by How the second world war changed the fire service – and the FBU the union 14 CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER FBU general secretary Matt Wrack responds to the government’s attack on health and safety 16 THE INCONSISTENCY PROBLEM National officer Sean Starbuck explains how the union is tackling workforce development issues Regulars 4 NEWS Government breaks pledge on regional controls; Warwickshire cuts fight goes on; Essex obstacle; FBU groundbreaking tribunal win; FBU learning success

5 SOUNDING OFF LFB Restore the right to strike 7 NEWS FOCUS 16 Save the fire and rescue service How the FBU 8 VIEW FROM THE AERIAL LADDER PLATFORM is tackling the Vuvezelas in action – an FBU first issues around workforce 18 HEALTH development Musculoskeletal injuries to firefighters 19 LEGAL BEAGLE Redundant or dismissed? Bullied but can’t complain 20 DAY OFF Meet Lynne Aitchison from Lothian and Borders – champion extreme cyclist 22 PUZZLE PAGE Your chance to win tickets for Glastonbury 2011 23 STATION CAT The news they don’t want you to hear 24 25-YEAR BADGES COVER PHOTOGRAPH FIRE BRIGADE SEAN VATCHER

2 August/September 2010 but little or nothing is done to ensure Cuts will undermine the safety of that equipment, training and procedures firefighters and the public. Those are the The fights of the past and the fights of the future are compatible. stark facts. This is likely to get worse as the new As I wrote last month, the government happened before 2004 is dismissed as government embarks on its agenda of talks of the “bloated public sector”, being part of the bad old days. However, “localism” alongside a period of huge but its claims are false. We have fewer those expressing these views are simply cuts. For our service this seems to mean firefighters than we did a decade ago demonstrating their own ignorance of little more than saying: “There is no and we simply cannot afford cuts. We the huge improvements which were money but it’s a local problem rather have already shown that emergency made during and after the war years. than national one – get on with it.” My response times in our service have fear is that we see a service squeezed slowed by 18 per cent and more over ten Cuts, cuts, cuts… and localism more and more by cuts and increasingly years. That is a disgrace and further cuts There are many themes in debates fragmented as local authorities try to will only make this situation worse. today which echo those of 1939-45. find their own way to solve what is really As firefighters, as trade unionists, as The abolition of national standards unsolvable. workers – we have no alternative but (for equipment, response times, Because the truth is that we cannot to fight as hard as we can to resist this appointment and promotion, training) afford cuts on the scale the government agenda. Out national lobby in November has produced an increasingly talks about – indeed we cannot afford can be an important step in that – I hope fragmented service. Firefighters are cuts at all. Cuts will mean further attacks you will get involved. expected to work together side by side, on pay, pensions, jobs and conditions. Matt Wrack

JAYNE ELMSLEY/MOUNTAINBIKEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM JAYNE LETTER Solidarity with Palestinian people The Gaza flotilla incident on 31 May do with us? Why is the union wasting once again highlighted the suffering its money?” Quite frankly, it has every- of the Palestinian people. Some were thing to do with us and it certainly is shocked at the way Israel acted but, not a waste of money. These people are in truth, this is a daily occurrence for suffering and any responsible human Palestinians. being would not and should not stand It took me back to my trip to for that. One thing I want to make clear, Palestine in February as part of a trade which actually surprised me – it is not union delegation. I felt it was an oppor- about religion and it runs much deeper tunity to see with my own eyes the than that. treatment of the Palestinian people. Last thing I met with the firefighters I learnt a lot on the trip. No matter in Nablus. I spent the whole afternoon what you hear, the illegal settlements, with Shams, Saher and Rabee. Those the illegal wall, the checkpoints, the that have met them know what an intimidation and the bullying these inspiration they are. I am honoured to people face every day is something that call them not just my comrades but my I struggle with to this day. friends also. For example, armed Israeli soldiers Please let’s stand up for what’s right stopped our minibus at a checkpoint, and support the Palestinian people. I checking our entire luggage, our suit- have a presentation I am happy to give cases, the minibus and us. I have never to brigade committees and the sections. had a gun pointed at me. Yet, as weird as Paul Lawler this sounds, by the end of the week I got Brigade secretary, Wiltshire kind of used to it. Nothing we experienced was even ■■Published by the Fire Brigades Union, a touch on what the Palestinian people Bradley House, 68 Coombe Road, have to go through every day. Kingston upon Thames KT2 7AE www.fbu.org.uk The ban on Israeli settlement goods and the position taken by the TUC ■■Design by Edition Periodicals, (led by the FBU) is something that we 241 Ferndale Road, as a union need to push. This issue is London SW9 8BJ www.editionperiodicals. debated time and again. From my first 20 co.uk Day off: hand experience, this will help the meet trainee Palestinian people and it is what they ■■Printed by firefighter and want. They are so appreciative that we Southernprint Ltd, extreme cyclist took this stance. Let’s not let them down. 17–21 Factory Road, Lynne Aitchison Poole, Dorset BH16 5SN People say to me: “What’s it got to

August/September 2010 FireFighter 3 August/September 2010 > Latest news > Sounding off News > In brief FBU slams broken pledge on regional controls FiReCONTROL

he FBU has condemned the govern- ment’s decision to renege on the pledge T made by both coalition partners to scrap the plan to create nine regional control centres. Fire minister Bob Neill announced at the fire and rescue conference in Harrogate on 29 June that the government would honour existing contracts with companies involved in the plans. So 46 control centres will be replaced by nine new centres, operating new, complicated and untried technology. FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “This is a massively expensive way of making Britain less safe, and a shameless abandonment of a clear pledge given before the election by both governing parties. Sharon Riley: We will “Firefighters will be very angry about fight on to see an end to reports that the government will honour the this shameful project contracts for the FiReControl project. “A manifesto pledge appears to have been In March this year, the Liberal Democrat expect costs will continue to rise and other dropped at the first opportunity.” spokeswoman Julia Goldsworthy told problems will inevitably occur with this Prime minister David Cameron was Firefighter magazine that the government flawed project. asked about the project on television by should think again over FiReControl. She “As the fire minister himself has said: FBU member Graham Donaldson on 26 said: “The Liberal Democrats are opposed ‘This project has been a catalogue of delays, April. He replied: “One thing we would do to the government’s plans to centralise fire poor delivery and added costs’.” to try and stop waste is the regionalisation control … We have called for the project to Sharon Riley, FBU executive council of the fire service, the so-called ‘ be stopped.” member for control, also expressed the scheme’; it was going to cost £100 million, Wrack said: “This project already costs union’s disgust with the decision. She said: it’s now costing £420 million. We will want many times the original estimate. We “The FBU will be pushing hard to ensure to stop that in its tracks.” that the secrecy and lack of communica- The Tory policy green paper,Control ‘This is a massively tion which surrounds the project is ended. shift: Returning power to local communi- To put it simply, we are not going away, we ties (February 2010), stated: “We will expensive way of making are not going to see our service run into the … abandon plans to regionalise fire Britain less safe, and a ground and we will fight on to defend it and control (while providing new measures to shameless abandonment to see an end to this shameful project.” enhance resilience in the case of a national Riley added: “Our advice to the minister emergency).” of a clear pledge’ is very clear – scrap this wasteful project.”

4 FireFighter August/September 2010 Sounding off!

Union vows JOHN McDONNELL MP FBU parliamentary group secretary to continue Restore the right to strike FBU members should know that I have cuts fight presented a private members’ Bill to parliament to improve significantly unions’ WARWICKSHIRE ability to defend their members. Warwickshire firefighters are joined in Firefighters will know that your brothers BU members in Warwickshire will their protest by Penny Bould, vice chair of and sisters in other unions have had continue to oppose cuts after the Warwickshire council’s Labour group. industrial action curtailed over the last year F Conservative council voted to slash by the courts. fire cover in a move which could end an “£80,000 of council tax money was spent In the current BA cabin crew dispute effective service in the county. on consultants to direct the public consul- employers have been able to exploit The council discussed a report full tation. When the public rejected the cuts loopholes in the law by using minor technical of buzzwords and misdirection before package, the consultants said, in essence, errors in a trade union ballot to stop trade unionists from taking strike action. deciding, by 34-22 with two abstentions, to that it doesn’t matter what the public think, RMT has been hauled through the close three fire stations. it isn’t about popularity or unpopularity.” courts on the most spurious of grounds by FBU assistant general secretary Andy The consultants stated that the views of employers trying to sabotage democratic Dark said: “The council talked of ‘moderni- the public of Warwickshire were skewed votes by members whose only crime has sation’ and ‘improvement’. There is nothing because they felt that their safety was been to fight for their jobs and safe working modern about what they considered. It was dependent upon the proximity of their conditions. old-fashioned cuts. home to a . This resort to the courts by some ruthless “There’s no improvement in jeopardising Dark added: “Only a rambling lunatic employers is bringing current employment public safety by cutting the number and would ignore the facts that the quicker it law into disrepute and undermining industrial spread of fire engines and fire stations.” takes to get to a fire, the quicker it gets put TALLIS/REPORTDIGITAL.CO.UK JUSTIN Dark said that when the council agreed out and the closer a station is to the fire then not to close but to “decommission” three the quicker that attendance will be. The stations it meant they would be sold off on public were right and the consultants were the cheap to property developers. barmy. Public consultation revealed that almost “What happened in that council chamber no one in the county supported the cuts. is not the end of the story. The firefighters, Dark said: “We hear much from the the FBU and the people of Warwickshire government about localism, letting will stand shoulder to shoulder to save the local people make decisions. Not in fire service, to protect the community and to Warwickshire, it seems. protect public safety in the coming months.” Last minute obstacle to settlement John McDonnell address striking BA cabin crew ESSEX Keith Flynn, Essex FBU what he was going to do. It’s secretary, said: “We simply almost as if a trap was being relations in this country. This cannot be he FBU was disap- can’t believe that yet another laid for us to walk into.” right and in the interests of good industrial pointed and bemused last-minute hurdle has been As far as FBU officials relations needs to be addressed. T by the refusal of Essex’s placed in the way of a final were concerned, the deal If parliamentary elections had to satisfy chief fire officer to formally agreement, especially when was already done. such stringent regulations, we would have no MPs and 650 court cases pending. sign off the full and final the full and final terms of The union signed the The Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) agreement already reached settlement already offered original full and final settle- Bill would tackle the increasing practice of between the authority and by the fire authority had ment but the chief refused using minor technical errors in the balloting the union to end the long- been formally agreed by and handed officials his process – which have no material effect on running dispute over last both sides. revised version. the outcome – to take unions to court in order year’s cuts. “We were given no prior Flynn said: “We will to prevent them from taking industrial action. Essex FBU officials notice of the new clause, calmly consider the The Bill has been co-signed by members were due to meet the chief there was no negotiation situation and the implica- of the FBU’s parliamentary group and by fire officer on 21 July to and inevitably we are now tions of the new clause. some other Labour MPs. It is backed by seven complete the formality. faced with calls from angry “We shall consult with other national unions (BFAWU, NAPO, NUJ, PCS, POA, RMT and URTU), representing over But instead, when they members to reinstate our our members and seek a half a million workers. arrived at the meeting, the industrial action.” face-to-face meeting directly The second reading of the Bill is on 22 chief refused to sign the He added: “It transpired with the elected members of October. There will be a mass rally and lobby agreement and produced that the chief had sent a the fire authority as soon as of parliament on 13 October. a revised document with a letter late the night before possible, because we simply Trade unionists can help by lobbying new clause inserted without to elected members of the can’t keep on doing business their MPs to get backing for this important notice or negotiation. fire authority telling them this way.” freedom Bill.

August/September 2010 FireFighter 5 NEWS In brief The race for Britain’s most highly FBU breaks new ground paid is storming ahead despite the chastened times, with a £200,000 award being made to Merseyside chief Tony McGuirk. with tribunal victory The latest Merseyside fire and rescue authority accounts state that UNFAIR DISMISSAL to Chris’s case.” Bennett, who has arthritis of the McGuirk receives £204,577 plus spine, had over 25 years’ service with Greater an extra £1,500 for expenses and he FBU has secured a groundbreaking victory Manchester fire and rescue service. allowances. According to a Freedom of Information request for last year’s for firefighter Christopher Bennett who was In February 2008 he sent an internal email salary, he was then earning no more T sacked for sending an email to colleagues to colleagues referring to an article from the than £189,000 – so this equates to about the fire service’s insistence that he use a chair Manchester Evening News, headlined ‘Firefighters at least a 7.6% pay rise – a tad more on nightshifts that was injuring his back. sue brigade after hurting backs on station chairs’. than firefighters in Merseyside and Last month union solicitors Thompsons He was sacked for gross misconduct. elsewhere. secured an out-of-court settlement of £80,000, an An employment tribunal last year found that Some friends have not missed amount greater than his right to freedom of out on the bonanza either. Other the statutory cap for Chris Bennett: expression under the senior managers in Merseyside this type of case. Human Rights Act had receive salaries of between Steve Shelton, Without the been breached and that £129,000 and £176,000, with benefits of several thousand the FBU official his dismissal was unfair. pounds. Meanwhile other officers, who represented support of the It concluded that the firefighters and control members Bennett during his email was of political and have their basic pay frozen and disciplinary hearings, FBU I would not public interest because the prospect of no increase for the said: “I always knew firefighters should be alert next few years. that Chris had been have been able and fit to go about their treated unfairly and business of fighting fires Controversial plans by South that the mitigating to get justice and effecting rescues. Wales fire and rescue service to circumstances Bennett said: introduce a self-rostering duty involved in his case in my case “Without the support of system at three of its wholetime duty stations have been had been ignored. the Fire Brigades Union announced in its 2011–2012 risk “To lose his job for speaking out about his I would not have been able to get justice in my reduction plan. concerns for safety was a sanction too far. It’s case. I was aware that we would be breaking new If approved, the plan would see reassuring to know that the law recognises this ground if we could convince the tribunal to apply station personnel cut from 28 to 12 and that our legal advisors were able to success- the Human Rights Act. I would like to thank them and could see firefighters working fully argue that the Human Rights Act be applied for backing me and my case.” continuously up to 96 hours. Local FBU officials have been meeting with MPs, Assembly members, local councillors and members of Union learning school ‘great success’ the fire authority in an effort to persuade them that this system of EDUCATION and full integration in both These programmes can be working is not in the best interest union and workplace. found on the FBU’s website. of firefighters or the public. n FBU union learning This included highlighting Courses provided so far have school in July – to begin the issue of dyslexia by both been as diverse as cultural Members of the FBU’s LGBT A to implement the union’s raising awareness through awareness – cookery, learning committee attended London Pride recent conference motion on equality work and addressing to speak Spanish, French, Polish in July after two days at the TUC promoting education – was a STRUKJANINA or signing and ensuring better LGBT conference, which was also great success, said Vicky Knight, delivery of FRS services within held in London. FBU executive council member communities. Pat Carberry, FBU LGBT for women. Knight said: “This has secretary, said: “This year celebrated 40 years since the “Members are a trade union’s Vicky the potential to be a hugely foundation of the Gay Liberation most precious commodity,” she Knight: successful area for development Front in the UK. Many believe said. “Well-trained, educated Members for members with other respon- this to have been the first major and organised members, who are a trade sibilities and skills outside the rumblings of unrest from a are aware of the issues of the union’s most fire and rescue service, which community that was no longer day with a deeper, more reflec- precious would be assisted by joint FBU prepared to be marginalised. tive understanding from a trade commodity and management support.” “Back in 1970 it was only a few union perspective, make for an learning needs via education She added: “Congratulations hundred very brave individuals active, formidable force to be and learning structures. to all those on the FBU’s who were prepared to stand up and reckoned with.” The union wants to open up education and union learning be counted. We can celebrate the progress that has been made and The FBU has addressed many opportunities for all in areas committees, the learning centre that is reflected in the attendance challenges facing members, including basic skills awareness, staff and local, regional and of over one million people at breaking down barriers that helping members achieve national reps and officials who London Pride, making it the largest served to exclude members both formal accreditation and support the learning agenda as a outdoor event in the UK.” from career progression routes vocational skills. whole. Your input is invaluable.”

6 FireFighter August/September 2010 NEWS FOCUS STEFANO CAGNONI STEFANO

Save the fire and rescue service

National officer Dave Green of the banks. The crisis was not caused by profitable sectors for their chums in private says government intends to anything else. industry to asset strip. We have to look beyond the threats of 40 The last bastion of trade union influence, change forever the way the per cent cuts to non-protected services and the last vestiges of any notion of a compas- fire service operates question the reasoning behind the rhetoric. sionate society are removed. For the likes of Cameron, Osborne and PUBLIC SERVICES Clegg the crisis is a means to an end – a plan If they get their way they have been harbouring for many years. FBU officials are well aware of the ramifica- he budget was clear – the cuts are Dismantle the public sector – cut pay, strip tions of what is before us. Our view is that coming. Make no mistake. This is an away pensions and reduce staffing. Hive off there is no fat to cut in the fire and rescue T attack on the very fabric of the public service, no more waste to jettison. sector – a battle we have not witnessed for a NATIONAL RALLY We have lived with a cuts agenda generation. for several years now, unlike the other For us, this is an attack on the fire and AND LOBBY emergency services, and the frontline is rescue service. But these cuts go far beyond down to the bone. an attack on individual brigades. It’s more Central Hall, Westminster We have been in close contact with our than the specific issues that we feel strongly parliamentary group and allies in the labour about, such as shifts, IRMPs or health movement. We intend to campaign vigor- and safety. WEDNESDAY ously to defend our service, a service society The proposed cuts are intended to alter both expects and deserves. It falls upon all forever the way the fire service is delivered. 17 NOVEMBER members of the FBU, the true professional Fire stations will have to close under their ••Defend public safety: voice of the fire and rescue service, to start plans, jobs will go and those left will have to that defence now. I urge all members to pick up the debris – working longer hours, Investment – not cuts contact their local MPs and councillors. for less money and a worse pension. ••No pay freeze We are organising a national lobby of There has been no public debate, no parliament on Wednesday 17 November. We analysis of alternatives. We are told that ••Hands off our pensions want an impressive turnout – so branches there is no alternative. I guess the govern- ••Scrap regional controls and regions need to make preparations now ment works on the theory that if you keep to build for the event. repeating an untruth people will believe it. Speak to brigade officials for United we can defeat the coalition’s The fact is that the crisis was caused by a fall transport and other details cuts. They have no mandate for what they in government income due to the bail out propose. They have to be stopped.

August/September 2010 FireFighter 7 VIEW FROM THE AERIAL LADDER PLATFORM

First use of vuvuzelas in industrial protest FBU MEMBERS MAKE SOME NOISE London firefighters protesting at the headquarters of the London have been used as an instrument proposed changes to their shift fire brigade for a meeting of the of industrial action in Britain. patterns demonstrated their fury fire authority. Paul Embery, London FBU by blowing vuvuzela trumpets The protest was widely regional official, said: “There was outside a key meeting in June. heralded as the first time that quite a bit of noise. They have Around 500 Fire Brigades vuvuzelas — the popular trumpets certainly had an impact during Union members gathered outside from the football World Cup — the World Cup and you can’t fail

PICTURE: STEFANO CAGNONI First use of vuvuzelas in industrial protest

to hear them. We thought it was unanimous opposition from difficulties arranging childcare. a good idea to catch the flavour London firefighters. Embery said: “They want to of the moment. When we have The FBU believes that the introduce 12-hour shifts which, a protest it’s always our plan to introduction of new shift patterns frankly, is going to cause people make as much noise as we can.” is a prelude to cutting overnight massive practical problems, to the The brigade wants to impose fire cover and would force some extent that many people may have 12-hour shifts, despite near firefighters to quit because of to leave the service.” FIREFIGHTERS AND THE

BLITZHow the war changed the fire service The Blitz began 70 years ago on 7 September. It transformed the fire service, as well as the firefighters’ union. To mark the anniversary, the FBU commissioned Francis Beckett to tell the story, in a . In this extract he new book, Firefighters and the Blitz describes Britain’s fire services in the runup to the war.

LONDONFIREBRIGADE

10 FireFighter August/September 2010 n 1937 Britain’s fire services were in no state to deal

LONDONFIREBRIGADE with a major national emergency. That was the year the Home Office instructed local authorities to draw up air raid precautions and fire protection schemes and the Air Raid Precautions Act pro- Ivided a grant to finance improvements in firefighting services. These services had grown up in a piecemeal way. Many firefighters were recruited from the navy, where they were taught the rigid and unquestioning obedience that fire officers believed the job demanded. Life in a fire station was run like life on board a naval ship, revolving around drill and discipline, spit and polish. New recruits were even expected to clean their officers’ homes. “Fire stations,” noted Victor Bailey in his history of the Fire Brigades Union, “were simply ships on dry land.” Every firefighter was on duty 24 hours a day for 14 days and nights. Men who had fought a serious fire in the night had to spend the next day cleaning and testing the engines and equipment. Discipline was arbitrary and the station manager’s word was law. Outside the big brigades, there were no pensions and pay was reduced during sickness. Few firefighters could rise through the ranks to become officers, for these were often recruited from the ranks of naval officers. The man who was to become easily the most famous of these was the appropriately named commander Aylmer Firebrace, veteran of the 1916 battle of Jutland and a former commander of Chatham gunnery school. The instincts of a naval

LONDONFIREBRIGADE officer accustomed to instant obedience never quite left him.

John Horner Firebrace became an officer in the (LFB) in 1919. In 1933 he recruited to the ranks a young man of 21 who, arguably, was to have as big an influence on the future of the fire service as Firebrace himself. His name was John Horner, and he did so well at training school that Firebrace attached him to headquarters and placed him in the zone of accelerated promotion. If Firebrace had had any idea what sort of man young John Horner would turn out to be, it is unlikely he would have done that. Horner found the LFB deeply conservative and rooted in the past, and was horrified to discover that its equipment was incompatible with equipment used elsewhere in the country. Could those in charge not see how dangerous this would be in time of war, when other brigades might need to come to London’s aid? Could no one see that military-style uniforms and drilling to make men docile were not the preparation required for war work? Apparently not. “It was the brass helmet which for me epitomised the hidebound traditions of the LFB,” Horner wrote later. “Polished every day and after every fire, the crown might become dangerously thin by generations of elbow grease, since a helmet could have previously served more than one fireman throughout his entire service. Heavy and cumbersome, awkward in confined spaces, it provided little protection. Since the dawning of the age of electricity the high crest with its splendid embossed dragon had been a constant danger to the wearer.” Born in November 1911, Horner knew what poverty did to people and to families, for he remembered his father, who arrived in London, a 13-year-old orphan, looking for work: “He was to remain an illiterate navvy

August/SeptemberMay 2010 FireFighter 11 FIREFIGHTERS AND THE BLITZ

until, his strength failing, he simply died.” Horner’s parents In 1938 Firebrace was appointed chief officer of the LFB. brought up their four children in a tiny two-up, two-down That was the year of the Fire Brigades Act, which required house in Walthamstow. The defeat of the 1926 general local authorities to maintain efficient firefighting services, strike when he was 14 seems to have been the point at and Firebrace took up his post just in time to implement which he became a socialist. it in the capital. LONDONFIREBRIGADE A scholarship to a grammar school led to him becoming Before this Act, local authorities provided whatever a trainee buyer for Harrods. It could have been the gateway they thought they ought to provide by way of fire services. to a comfortable life far removed from the privations of No local authority except the LCC was under any legal his parents, but everything in this restless man revolted obligation to provide a fire brigade at all. What they did against it, and after a year he left and went to sea. He trav- provide was often very sketchy indeed. The heads of local elled the world with the merchant navy and became a fire brigades were often local worthies who had an interest qualified second officer – but one who could not find a in firefighting. ship because of the economic crisis of the 1930s. So he applied for a job in the fire service. No extra money As a seaman, he recalled, “I had seen the collapse of The Fire Brigades Act of 1938 made fire protection world capitalism. I had seen the unwanted wheat of the compulsory for every local authority. Britain was divided prairies of America mixed with tar to fuel dockside loco- into 12 regions under the command of chief regional fire motives, while starving jobless immigrants wandered officers to coordinate resources, including manpower the quays and begged for scraps from the hogswill in and appliances. But the Act did not provide extra money, our galley’s shit-bucket.” Now he was seeing the dreadful and it did not reduce the fire brigades to a manageable poverty and starvation of the 1930s in Britain; and he had number. When tested in war conditions the new law seen the 1929-31 British Labour government do nothing proved insufficient. at all to change it. It was a bitter disillusion for reformers of But it was a sign that the government and the press had Horner’s generation. So he was quite ready to be what his belatedly woken up to the reality of aerial warfare and colleagues called “a bolshie”. were tending if anything to exaggerate its potential for Horner became an activist in the FBU, whose power and destructiveness. The Fire Brigades Act put the expansion influence were very limited. Two thousand of its members of the fire service under the control of the Home Office, were employed by the London county council (LCC), which issued a Memorandum on Emergency Fire Brigade and the other 1,000 were spread thinly over provincial Organisation. This pointed out that the assumption that brigades. The LCC refused to have anything to do with large numbers of fires would not occur at the same time, it, and set up a tame “representative body” (RB) instead. upon which fire service organisation was based, was The LCC under Herbert Morrison made a parade of reasonable enough in peacetime but clearly wrong in the refusing to deal with the FBU. Morrison also poured sort of war that was likely to be fought. For war, a huge and scorn on the claim that firefighters worked 72 hours, rapid expansion was needed, both of men and equipment. “announcing publicly that we actually slept at nights – on Frederick Radford, the first historian of the Fire Brigades LONDONFIREBRIGADE beds – with blankets supplied by the LCC”. Contemporary Union, noted just after the war that “the union drew the London politicians have recently, as I write in 2010, made nation’s attention to its woefully inadequate fire defences. the same appalling discovery, and speak about it with the There was a criminal lack of equipment and uniforms. same manufactured outrage. Fires were fought in civilian clothes in some towns. There The military-style drill was designed to make the men were deficiencies in hoses, blankets and beds.” docile and unlikely to get involved with the union. But In March 1938, the LCC’s air raid precautions firefighters relied on each other, and as Horner wrote later: committee set up what became known as the Auxiliary “I came to realise that the strong bond of mutual reliance Fire Service (AFS) by deciding to recruit and train 28,000 which characterised the job could be a powerful element auxiliaries for the London Fire Brigade, and to set up 360 in forging a special kind of trade union for a special kind additional fire stations. There were to be two types of of service.” auxiliary: unpaid part-timers, who did their normal jobs These two men, the grandee who had been a naval officer and worked as firefighters when they could and when they and the young working-class former merchant seamen, were needed; and those who, in the event of war, would were to be the key figures in the fight against the Blitz. give up their jobs and become full-time, paid firefighters.

PA PHOTOS PA The AFS became a national organisation, and was to be the key factor in fighting the Blitz. John Horner’s determi- nation to use its creation as an opportunity for the union, rather than a danger, was the foundation upon which today’s FBU is built.

>> Firefighters and the Blitz by Francis Beckett (ISBN 9780850366730) may be ordered at the special pre-publication price of £10 plus £1 p&p to addresses in the UK until the end of September. Order from Pre-publication offers, Central Books Ltd, Mail Order Department, 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN, (Telephone 0845 458 9910, fax 0845 458 9912 mo@ centralbooks.com) and quote Pre–publication Offer/Firefighters. Herbert Morrison from the London County Council attacked (The book will be sent out on publication in the second week of firefighters’ conditions September.)

12 FireFighter August/September 2010 FIREFIGHTERS AND THE BLITZ

“The strong bond of mutual resilience which characterised the job could forge a special kind of trade union”

Top right: John Horner, FBU general secretary during this pivotal era

August/September 2010 FireFighter 13 HEALTH AND SAFETY CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack responds to the government’s attack on health and safety

he government review of health services, including firefighters. with crocodile tears but no investigation, never and safety, headed by Lord Young Young was crystal clear about his mind a prosecution of those responsible. over the last two months, was an intentions. He told The Times (19 June): “I Young was effectively telling firefighters: unwelcome distraction. Unwelcome want to exclude all the emergency services You know there are risks when you sign up, because it was not designed to from health and safety. Technically speaking, so don’t expect anything by way of protection. improveT the existing health and safety at the firemen could say they wouldn’t go to a fire Tell that to the families of 150 firefighters who work system, nor to prosecute more criminal because it was too dangerous. We’ve just got to have died at work since the Act came into employers, nor to provide more resources for get sense back into the system.” force. Tell that to the families of 17 firefighters the Health and Safety Executive. A distraction What would this mean? It would mean fire killed at fires in the last eight years. Tell it to because its recycling of Daily Mail headlines service employers would no longer be bound the 100 firefighters who suffer hospitalisa- coincided with the government’s announce- by the Health and Safety at Work Act. Fire tion, burns and loss of limbs every year in the ment of savage cuts to public services. authorities would not have a statutory duty of course of rescuing people, or the 4,000 injured The Young review is best seen as part of this care for their employees, meaning they would in other ways in the line of duty every year. attack. No one should be fooled by Young. no longer have to take measures to reduce the The proposal is breathtaking in its stupidity. He was the architect of privatisation under risks faced by their staff and to inform and train It would involve tearing up decades of British Thatcher. He may lack the vigour of yester- them about safe working practices. It would and European lawmaking. After meeting FBU year, but no one should doubt his contempt mean every firefighter death would be met officials, Young appears to have retreated in for the welfare of workers. relation to issues affecting the fire and rescue service. Nevertheless we will monitor his Emergency services “Lord Young’s conclusions closely. Young told the Daily Telegraph (23 June) that In the fire and rescue service, health and his review would cover three areas. First, it half-baked review safety does not in any way prevent firefighters would examine the so-called “compensation from dealing with emergencies. Instead the culture”. Second, it would look at whether will do nothing to real problem we face is the attempt to down- health and safety law is a “burden on business”. grade and weaken the importance of emer- Finally, it would decide whether health and address safety” gency intervention within our service. The safety law should apply to the emergency culture which sees fitting smoke alarms as

14 FireFighter August/September 2010 HEALTH AND SAFETY JESS HURD/REPORTDIGITAL.CO.UK JESS

Firefighters remember fallen colleagues at the national memorial for UK firefighters outside St Paul’s cathedral in London

more important than emergency intervention the injury could have been avoided. that fewer than one in 10 people made ill or will undermine our service and our profes- There is no compensation culture in the injured by their work ever receive any compen- sion unless we challenge it. Firefighters want UK fire and rescue service. Firefighters are sation from the state or from their employers. to be able to respond rapidly and effectively not increasingly likely to claim compensation to all emergency incidents. To ensure that is from their employer should they be injured Health and safety ‘a burden’? done safely, professionally and effectively we or made sick while carrying out their duties at Universal health and safety regulation is abso- simply ask for adequate resources, equipment work. Within the fire and rescue service there lutely essential. Firefighters see that when we and training. Lord Young’s half-baked review is no such evidence. In fact the number of are called to free workers trapped by machinery will do absolutely nothing to address this. personal injury claims made by Fire Brigades and rescue workers from hazardous work- Union members in the past eight years has places. Fires take place in ordinary shops and Compensation culture been reduced by some 36%. offices just as they do in factories and plants. Young claimed he wants to tackle the More widely, academic research has found In most cases, the employers’ failure to follow compensation culture. What does this mean? that the UK’s “compensation culture” is a myth. safety law is a material reason why fire has It means when you get injured at work and Warwick University researchers working for engulfed the premises. your employer is found to be negligent, then the Health and Safety Executive found that Every year around 200 workers die at they have to pay. The perpetrator has to pay the number of legal actions is consistently work. Over one million suffer work-related the victim for the damage done. It may not be declining in both the High Court and the ill health. Over 30,000 report injuries at work. enough. But it is at least some justice, when County Courts. TUC research has revealed Far from being a burden on business, this is a massive burden on working people. Yet busi- nesses spend only three minutes and £1.40 a day on health and safety, according to govern- ment figures. For these reasons, the FBU wants safety law, backed by strong enforcement, to continue. The trade union movement won safety rights after decades of mistreatment. We will not Newspaper headlines have stoked the attack on safety give up these rights without a fight.

August/September 2010 FireFighter 15 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Competence requires continuous training

National officer Sean Starbuck explains how the FBU is tackling the issues around workforce development The inconsistency problem

elegates to recent FBU annual The workforce development group misuse of development pay on promotion. We conferences have debated issues The WDG is made up of officials who are identified that the majority of brigades which around the integrated personal especially interested in this subject. Over the pay development rates of pay on promotion development system (IPDS) and last three years it has worked to give officials are doing this without having the right quality tasked the FBU workforce devel- a better understanding of workforce devel- assurance which they agreed would have to be Dopment group (WDG) with raising these con- opment and the tools to challenge issues in in place before this happened. Several officials cerns with employers. their own brigades. The group has produced have challenged this in their brigades. The 2010 conference discussed six more a guide for officials on the IPDS code of The FBU is taking legal advice about workforce development-related resolutions. practice, available via the FBU website. whether this is an unlawful deduction of These included concerns such as how An FBU course has been run more than half wages. Once again, only the FBU is repre- assessment development centres are run and a dozen times and feedback from participants senting the interests of firefighters of all roles. unacceptable reductions in the contents of the has shown that it has been extremely useful Members will be kept fully updated as this initial recruit training programme. and confirmed that inconsistent implemen- challenge develops. The common theme running through tation remains the biggest obstacle to IPDS The union believes that IPDS is the best these resolutions was the inconsistent way being successful in its application. system available to identify, assess and develop that IPDS was being implemented, despite individuals to achieve and maintain compe- clear national guidance on how it should Challenges tence – but that it can only be effective if it is be delivered. On the pilot course we ran a session on the applied as a whole and not in part, as is often

16 FireFighter August/September 2010 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

PICTURES: SEAN VATCHER SEAN PICTURES: The report of this initial interview will be available to officials in the near future.

Ongoing work The WDG is working on an advisory docu­ ment highlighting our concerns about IPDS and suggesting simple remedies. It is also working on a document that will give officials an understanding of what elements should be covered in initial recruits’ courses. The document is being designed to enable officials to mount a challenge if they believe that the current one is not appropriate. As part of this work the FBU has met with the Scottish and has been given information on the foundation course which all Scottish brigades use for wholetime firefighter initial recruit training. The FBU is also looking at other areas, such as the qualifications that are available to firefighters of all roles, and has been involved in a dispute around a proposal to intro- duce an unnecessary breathing apparatus qualification. In addition, several surveys are under way. One is designed to gather information around the use of the national firefighter selection test and another to discover the range of specialist skills that are being undertaken in brigades. The results will be used in future projects for the WDG. The WDG has also played an integral part in establishing a process which ensures that the nationally agreed role map cannot be amended even slightly without the agreement of the National Joint Council. The inconsistency problem

the case. This is the message that we have been a permanent seat on this committee and will There is no doubt that the FBU takes trying to reiterate at all the national commit- continue to raise issues when we do not agree workforce development very seriously and tees we sit on and the message is finally getting with the way things are being implemented. continues to raise issues in all the right places. through. A specific subcommittee has been In addition, the Communities and Local It is only through a nationally agreed, set up primarily to look at IPDS and to review Government department has commissioned quality assured development process that we how it has been implemented. The FBU has consultants – Greenstreet Berman – to review can be confident of safe and competent fire- current processes for operational training and fighters at all levels. development in the fire and rescue service. IPDS is the key to this – but it cannot work “The FBU is The FBU has already taken part in an unless it is applied as per the codes of practice. initial interview, where the union reiterated The FBU will continue to raise issues until the the real voice its support for IPDS, but only if it is applied process is delivered as it should be. in line with the nationally agreed codes of Other organisations claim to be the profes- of professional practice that address all the concerns that have sional voice of the fire service. been raised by our officials. We all know that the FBU is the real voice firefighters of The FBU also gave examples of IPDS not of professional firefighters of all roles. It’s being applied in line with these codes of time that our voice was heard and workforce practice and outlined areas where immediate development was delivered in the way it all roles” improvements could be made. was intended.

August/September 2010 FireFighter 17 YOUR WELFARE HEALTH Pain at work New research on musculoskeletal injuries to firefighters

FINDINGS IN BRIEF The sharp increase in the frequency of INJURIES MSDs for older firefighters is consistent with ••Firefighters are 3.5 times more likely the idea that the physical nature of the job to suffer a workplace injury than a irefighting is one of the most impor- exposes them to cumulative trauma, making private-sector worker tant and most dangerous occupa- them more susceptible to disabling MSDs. tions in the world. While firefighters ••Firefighters take 1.4 times longer to Researchers also compared the employ- face a number of unique risk fac- return to work than workers in the ment outcomes of firefighters with four tors in the job, the most common private sector different categories of injury: back; knee; Fwork-related injuries among firefighters are ••Both the frequency and the severity shoulder; and heart disease. musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). MSDs of injuries, particularly MSDs, are Researchers found: are injuries to the back, the upper limbs worse for older firefighters •• While the losses for firefighters who expe- (shoulders, wrist, elbow, neck etc) and lower ••Older firefighters are 10.4 times rience permanent disabilities are substan- limbs (mainly the legs). more likely to suffer an MSD than tial on average, there are a wide variety of The physical demands of the job and the are private-sector workers and they outcomes across different injury types. limited opportunities to modify them mean take more than four times as long to •• Heart disease is associated with the most that MSDs are potentially more disruptive return to work significant reduction in employment. The and costly to firefighters than to people in relative employment ratio for firefighters other lines of work. with heart disease falls to less than 0.6 in the Researchers from the Centre for Health third year after the date of disability. and Safety in the Workplace in the United •• The losses associated with back injuries States have published a study of the frequency, and other common types of injuries appear severity, and economic consequences of to be relatively minor, particularly compared musculoskeletal injuries to firefighters in to those of workers in the private sector. California. The importance of firefighter MSDs was heightened by changes to Medical interventions California’s workers’ compensation scheme. The researchers also looked at medical inter- The results are relevant to firefighters in ventions for firefighters with MSDs, particu- the UK. larly chiropractice or physical therapy. Most studies evaluating the health effects Elevated risk of chiropractors or physical therapists found Researchers found that firefighters face an mildly positive results relative to general “elevated risk” from MSDs and the risk is practitioner care and significant improve- “especially pronounced” for firefighters aged ments relative to placebos. 55 and older. The evidence regarding They found that: return-to-work outcomes and •• Firefighters are 3.5 times more likely to cost-effectiveness was mixed and suffer a workplace injury and 3.8 times more weak. While some studies found likely to suffer a work-related MSD than a that chiropractors or physical therapist private-sector worker. treatments were marginally cost-effective •• Firefighters take 1.4 times longer to and return injured workers to work faster, return to work than workers in the private they were sparse. Many studies found that sector for all injuries; this difference rockets alternative treatments from a GP were more for MSDs, as firefighters take twice as long to cost-effective. However, there is still a lack of return to work. evidence on long-term treatments. •• The average number of days away from Although not conclusive, the research sets work after an MSD is 1.8 times greater for out some of the key issues facing firefighters an MSD than for any other injury for fire- at work and the effects of MSDs. fighters, whereas this ratio is only 1.25 for private sector workers. >> More information: •• Both the frequency and the severity of The full research is available online. injuries, particularly MSDs, are worse for Seth A. Seabury, Christopher F. McLaren, older firefighters than they are for younger LIBRARY PHOTO SCIENCE (2010) The frequency, severity, and economic firefighters. consequences of musculoskeletal injuries to • • Older firefighters are 10.4 times more firefighters in California likely to suffer an MSD than are private- sector workers, and they take more than four http://rand.org/pubs/monographs/2010/RAND_ times longer to return to work. MG1018.pdf

18 FireFighterFBU Month FREE 2006 CONFIDENTIAL STRESS & SUPPORT HELPLINE 0800 783 4778 YOUR WELFARE YOU AND THE LAW

Am I really Contact your FBU redundant? representative and talk through the options with them. You I am a . should also check to Q While at my main place see if the employer of work I had to go out on has a bullying or a shout. When I returned harassment policy my boss announced he that might set out a could not tolerate any more procedure to follow interruptions to my work as when making a it was hurting the business complaint of bullying and said he was making me or harassment. redundant. Can he do that? Keep a diary recording dates and An employee can be times of incidents A made redundant only when you feel you if the employer is closing are being harassed the business, closing a and an outline of workplace or requires fewer what happened. Note employees for existing work down the names of or there is less work for any witnesses and existing employees. keep copies of any Terminating someone’s relevant written employment because material. retained firefighter duties Then inform are said to be disrupting your employers the employer’s business is so that they can unlikely to be viewed in law assist in resolving the as a redundancy. It is instead situation. At the end of a dismissal. the day, if one of their There are six reasons employees is behaving for dismissal which may in a bullying way this be considered fair in law: is their problem, not capability; conduct; redun- yours. dancy; continued employment Raise the issue if that contravenes a restriction you can with your or duty imposed by statute; line manager or, if retirement; and “some other they are the person substantial reason”. who is bullying you, with “Some other substantial their manager. Alternatively you reason” could include an SATOSHI KAMBAYASHI may wish to contact personnel employer’s genuine belief that or human resources. a member’s retained duties are If you feel that you cannot disrupting the business. Legal Beagle raise the matter yourself with An employment tribunal anyone, then maybe the union asked to consider a claim of can do so on your behalf. unfair dismissal would have to Answers to some frequently asked legal Unless you or your union consider whether the employer representative raise the issue acted reasonably or unreason- questions that members put to the FBU with management, it is unlikely ably in treating that reason as that anything will change. There sufficient grounds for dismissal. are no specific legal rights that The extent to which the business then they should Bullied, but I outlaw bullying or harassment, issue was discussed with the immediately contact the trade so the only way of resolving the member or to which alterna- union that represents them in can’t complain problem is by discussion with tives were considered, such as their full-time job. management. What should I do if I altering the member’s working Claims for unfair dismissal hours or redeployment to a role am bullied, harassed or >>The advice published here is must be lodged within three Q not intended as legal advice on where retained duties would be intimidated at work and feel I months of the date the employ- individual cases. Write in with your less disruptive, would also be cannot complain? ment ends. The member must legal problem to legalbeagle@ considered. fbu.org.uk and those of widest also have at least one year’s If a retained member is Complaining is the only relevance to FBU members in the dismissed because their fire- continuous service with their A way to deal with this. The workplace will be selected and fighter duties are said to be employer in order to be able to problem is unlikely to go away answered in future editions. With disrupting their employer’s pursue a claim. otherwise. thanks to Thompsons solicitors.

FBU FREEPHONE LEGAL ADVICE LINE 0808 100 6061 August/September 2010 FireFighter 19 DAY OFF ME AND MY EXTREME BIKING ‘I haven’t really raced – I’ve been doing more stunt work’ Lynne Aitchison from Lothian and Borders is a champion extreme cyclist

oing downhill really quickly on a bike on a rough track between large trees is not something most people relish. But Edinburgh fire- fighter and keen mountain biker GLynne Aitchison has had a great time biking down hills at speed. Now she is keen to help others enjoy the thrills of learning new skills on bikes. Competitive downhill racing is not just exhilarating for the rider – it can be pretty thrilling to watch. Those who line the trackside can witness physical feats that certainly don’t get taught in the cycling ­proficiency test. This is extreme biking, a recognised sport that requires a high level of physical fitness and agility – not to mention nerve. Take launching off a big step, “jumping” into the air and leaping across a ten-foot hole in the track road, for instance. “You just fly off a gap really – it’s not as tricky as it sounds”, Lynne explains. Well, perhaps not if you are skilled enough to be named women’s downhill biking Scottish champion in 2005 after six rounds cycling down six hills between April Lynne performs a and September. Lynne got the title because backflip at the Air she won most races. She raced the downhill Maiden event she cycling world cup equivalent in Fort William organises

20 FireFighter August/September 2010 the same year, organised by Union Cycliste ELMSLEY/MOUNTAINBIKEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM JAYNE PICTURES Internationale, the official governing body for cycling sports. Lynne, now 34, only discovered the delights and challenges of extreme biking in her mid-twenties when she realised she preferred going downhill to up, and wanted to learn some skills. But it should not really have come as a surprise. As a self-confessed adrenaline junkie, she’s always felt drawn to challenging sports: she triple-jumped for as a schoolgirl and is a long- standing snowboarder. She lived in Canada for a year. Downhill racing is far more mainstream in North America than the UK, so Lynne was not short of biking opportunities. She even entered the World Masters championship for women over 30 in Sun Peaks, British Columbia, came second and has the medal to prove it. She also made sure she got along to Crankworx, the legendary extreme mountain biking festival in the ski resort of Whistler in British Columbia. It’s a place where mountain bikers are judged very much by their drop-off, airborne, landing and other skills. There are some magnificent slopes amid breathtaking scenery. Lynne came fourth in the pro women’s category in 2007. ‘We do tours in schools’ She joined Lothian and Borders fire and rescue service in February last year and has moved away from competitive racing to performing stunts and encouraging others to get involved in the sport. “Since I came back from Canada and joined the fire service, I haven’t really raced – I’ve been doing more stunt work,” said Lynne, a trainee on red watch and based LYNNE AITCHISON at Tollcross station. She belongs to a stunt Lynne Aitchison is a trainee firefighter group called The Clan. “We do tours in at Tollcross station in Edinburgh, a schools and do demos at outdoor shows and world-standard extreme biker and festivals. There are five riders from all over member of The Clan stunt group Scotland – four guys and myself “It’s good fun. We’ve got a rig that we built up to take with us, a bus and a trailer. “I’ve moved more into the events organ- women to get involved by demonstrating We drive into wherever we’re going and do ising side of things, but I’m still doing the and passing on her skills. “There are a lot of demos. Each of us has a different speciality – stunts when I can, still dabbling in the odd women going mountain biking, but not that mine’s jumping, so we do stunts over a jump, bit of downhilling but not really as seriously many that do stunts. We always get a good perform tricks on the bike in the air – back- as I used to. I love my job as a firefighter, response when we do demonstrations. There flips, no-handers, no-footers. It’s all very safe am getting that bit older and it’s trying to fit is quite a lot of interest.” and people seem to like it. The idea is to get everything in. Maybe I’m calming down a bit.” Lynne reckons downhill stunt biking more people into biking and advertise the would make an excellent Olympic sport, but sport a bit.” ‘I fell in by accident’ so far the authorities have not shown much Lynne also organises mountain bike Though, to most people, the concept of interest. “They do recognise crosscountry events. Earlier in the summer there was Air calming down doesn’t seem to fit with mountain biking and boxing, but they don’t Maiden – a freeride event for women – made performing breathtaking bike stunts. For even have downhill mountain biking in the up of a coaching weekend followed by a someone who “fell into mountain biking by Olympics. I think that’s a shame because, like competition trying out newly learned skills. accident”, Lynne has notched up consider- downhill skiing, it’s such a good spectator A similar event for men is planned for later able success. sport. It’s a bit too late for 2012 – but maybe in the year. She is enjoying encouraging more the Olympic authorities should give it a whirl.”

August/September 2010 FireFighter 21 PUZZLES

JON FURNISS/GETTY IMAGES FURNISS/GETTY JON 1 Quick Crossword

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8

9

10 11

12 13

14 15 16

17 18

19 20 21 22 Prize quiz Win tickets for Glastonbury 2011 23 24 1 What anniversary did 4 Name the UK’s oldest Glastonbury celebrate this popular music festival –

25 26 year? originally started in 1961? a. 30th a. Guilfest b. 25th b. Reading c. 40th c. T in the Park d. 10th d. O2 Wireless

ACROSS DOWN PICTURES LIFE & DOMINIS/TIME JOHN 7 Fire hazard in pressurised 1 Tall tree, native of north 2 Who of the following was can (7) America (7) the first rapper to headline at 3 8 Item of padded soft furnishing, 2 Vertical posts used as or rim of snooker table (7) barriers (8) Glastonbury in 2008? 10, 12, 5 They were rejected by 98 3 Wear them, or watch them a. Snoop Dog per cent of members in London fight (6) b. Kanye West (6-4,6) 4 Writ demanding attendance at c. Dizzee Rascal 11 Wannabes; contenders (8) court (8) d. Jay-Z 12 See 10 (4) 5 See 10 (6) 3 A documentary was made 13 Cut of 22 (10) 6 Bump into (7) in 1970 of which famous US 5 Which of the following 14 Basically, of the inner, 9 Stamp collector (11) music festival attended by cities does not host the Three distinctive nature of 15 Final stages of chess 500,000 people? Choirs Festival? something; (11) encounters (8) a. Woodstock a. Hereford 19 Large tropical reptiles - said to 16 Free (8) shed tears? (10) b. Coachella b. Worcester 17, 24 fire station under c. Summerfest c. Chichester 22 Meat from cattle (4) threat of closure (7,6) d. South by Southwest d. Gloucester 23 Fire hazards found in smokers’ 18 Asylum seeker (7) PHOTOS DEVLIN/PA ANTHONY homes (8) 20 Lemon or lime (6) 24 See 17 (6) 21 Hole for plug, or eye 2 25 Fat-cat bankers still get perhaps (6) them (7) 26 Bird of prey (7)

Solution to July 2010 crossword Winner of the June 2010 quiz Stuart McQueen of Carluke, Scotland

Answers to HOW TO ENTER July 2010 quiz To win a pair of tickets to Glastonbury 2011 please send your answers to the Prize Quiz by 30 September 2010 on a postcard 1. B – Diego Simeone to: Prize Competition (August/September 2010) FBU Head Office, C – Cristiano Ronaldo 2. Bradley House, 68 Coombe Road, Kingston upon Thames, 3. A – Salvatore Schillaci KT2 7AE. Include your name, address and membership number. 4. A – Cafu The winner will be selected at random from all correct entries. 5. B – Ronaldo

22 FireFighter August/September 2010 GOSSIP

… brings you the news they don’t want you to hear

A county’s firefighters … Business, as usual I don’t have to justify what I earn. Councillors are worth every penny they earn. I’m not Norfolk firefighters had better New fire minister Bob Neill doesn’t interested in this tittle tattle.” keep their mouths shut about want the Chief Fire Officers Shapps apparently owns a Piper Saratoga, proposed fire service cuts in their Association bothering him. costing around £100,000. county, if they know what’s good He told their conference in June: His spokesperson said: “We will criticise for them, says their employer. “Take sprinklers for example … If you think Tory councillors who pay themselves An instruction from Norfolk fire and that more fire protection would be good for excessive amounts just as we would criticise rescue service tells them that “under no UK businesses then you should be making Labour councillors doing the same thing.” circumstances must they express personal your case to the business community, not to views or make comments about the changes the government.” Hello, hello. What’s all this? in a public setting whilst identifying CFOA got the message. President John themselves as an employee of NFRS”. Bonney talked carefully about how the Police moved into Tiptree fire And that doesn’t just mean talking to the association would “make the case” for station near Colchester in Essex last media. The instruction says: “This includes sprinklers without saying to whom they month, in another one of those social gatherings, use of social networking would make it. “modernisation” pilots. sites or contact with members of the media.” But Station Cat wonders what Mr Neill will The police look set to lose many facilities Careful what you say down the pub, or over the say when firefighters have to risk their lives and will have to operate out of two desks in garden fence. Big Brother is watching you. because someone’s business was too stingy to communal areas of the fire station. invest in sprinklers. Presumably he’ll tell the Police and firefighters are strongly … seen but not heard CFOA that they weren’t persuasive enough. opposed to the move and know it will lead to a reduction in services offered locally by It’s not hard to see why Norfolk FRS Manchester united emergency personnel. Delayed response is so twitchy. It is planning for 10 per times are inevitable. cent cuts and is holding public Have you noticed that when The scheme is utter madness. Even the meetings at which they will be things go wrong, it’s your fault, police chief heading the trial described it as discussed. but when they go right, the “maverick”. The last thing they want is professional politicians take the credit? firefighters turning up and telling the public The chairman of the Manchester fire Shifting ground how damaging these cuts will be for 999 and rescue authority, Lib Dem councillor services. Paul Shannon, praising the work of the A change PHOTOS GILES/PA JOHN So it is also trying to warn Norfolk outgoing chairman, Tory James Pearson, of heart? firefighters off going to the meetings. said: “Working together, we have this year CFO Hearing firefighters might not be delivered record low levels of deaths and Mark welcome, the county’s FBU brigade injuries from fire in Greater Manchester.” Smitherman (right) secretary Jamie Wyatt wrote to industrial The coming spending cuts will make the says it’s time to stand relations chief Karen Palframan asking her future “challenging” he said. In the brave up for his staff and to “confirm that an off-duty firefighter is new world of management jargon, there are for the safety of the a member of the public and that it is their no problems, only “challenges”. South Yorkshire absolute right to attend public meetings public. “I will do my on matters that concern them, raise their High fliers fall out utmost to defend our justifiable concerns at those meetings …” service and our staff The reply was anything but reassuring. Shock. Horror. Tories fall out over against cuts that “These events are not intended for the benefit expenses. First Brian Coleman is could affect public of staff … we are not encouraging staff to exposed by the Daily Telegraph as the safety and our firefighters’ ability to do their attend”, wrote Ms Palframan. second highest paid councillor in the jobs,” he says. Staff won’t be disciplined for going, she country. He receives £114,322 in allowances, Hard to believe that this is the same said, so long as they don’t go in uniform, and including £26,883 as chair of the London CFO who only a few months ago wanted to so long as they keep their mouths shut when Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. make 744 firefighters redundant and then they get there. Then Grant Shapps, the local government reemploy them on a different shift system. A “Staff … have their own mechanisms to minister, warns that “people shouldn’t get move that would have made it easier to cut provide feedback,” she wrote. into public service looking for bumper firefighters’ jobs. If a manager says you can cut 10 per cent pay packets”. without damaging 999 services, you don’t Coleman’s response: “Is that the multi- **if you have any snippets you think Station want some pesky firefighter saying what millionaire Grant Shapps? The one with the Cat should get his sharp claws into email: rubbish it is. private plane? The successful businessman? [email protected]

August/September 2010 FireFighter 23 FBU REGIONAL OFFICES

> Region 1 Scotland 52 St Enoch Square, Glasgow, Scotland g1 4aa 25‑year badges 0141 221 2309 [email protected] > Region 2 Northern 14 Bachelors Walk, Lisburn, Co Antrim, bt28 1xj 02892 664622 [email protected] > Region 3 Cleveland, Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 1 Carlton Court, 5th Avenue, Team Valley, Gateshead, ne11 0az 0191 487 4142 [email protected] > Region 4 Yorkshire and Humberside 9 Marsh Street, Rothwell, Leeds, ls26 0ag 0113 288 7000 [email protected] > Region 5 Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Isle of Man, Cumbria, Merseyside, Cheshire The Lighthouse, Lower Mersey St, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, ch65 2al Rudolph Parkes (l) West Paul Warnock ( l ) blue watch, Mike Hill (r), Bridgwater, Devon 0151 357 4400 Midlands training centre, receives York, receives his 25-year badge and Somerset, receives his [email protected] > Region 6 Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, his 25-year badge from West from North Yorkshire regional 25-year badge from region 13 EC Lincolnshire, , Midlands membership secretary chair Ian Watkins member Tam McFarlane Northamptonshire Little Dennis Street South (above Dawsons) Pardeep Raw Nottingham NG2 4EU 0115 947 2042 [email protected] > Region 7 West Midlands, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Hereford and Worcester, Salop 195/7 Halesowen Rd, Old Hill, West Midlands, b64 6he 01384 413633 [email protected] > Region 8 Mid and West Wales, North Wales, South Wales 4 Ffordd yr Hen Gae, Pencoed, Bridgend, cf35 5lj 01656 867910 [email protected] > Region 9 Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk 28 Atlantic Square, Station Road, Witham, Essex, cm8 2tl 01376 521521 Andy Burridge (r) Bridgwater, Paul Graham (l) Wallsend, Tyne Simon Render (r) Harrogate, [email protected] receives his 25-year badge and Wear, receives his 25-year receives his 25-year badge from > Region 10 London John Horner Mews, Frome Street, from region 13 EC member Tam badge from region 3 safety North Yorkshire brigade chair Islington, London, n1 8pb McFarlane coordinator Russ King Sean Atkinson 020 7359 3638 [email protected] > Region 11 Kent, Surrey, Sussex Greater Manchester FBU Unit 11, Hunns Mere Way, members receive 25-year badges Woodingdean, Brighton, BN2 6AH 01273 309762 from national officer Paul [email protected] Woolstenholmes (front row, far > Region 12 Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, , Oxfordshire, Isle of Wight left). Front row (l–r) Mike Munelly, FBU Regional Office, The Merlin Centre, Unit L, Gatehouse Close, Aylesbury HP19 8DP Andrew Maidens, Andy Charnley, 01296 482297 Gary Costello and Paul Hesford. [email protected] > Region 13 Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, Back row (l –r) Val Salmon, Janet Avon, , Wiltshire, Dorset Mills, Dave Hall, Chris Mycock, 158 Muller Road, Horfield, Bristol, bs7 9re Stuart Mason, Vic Kopicki, Frank 0117 935 5132 McGuiness, Alan Anderson, [email protected] Mark Rushden, Gary Dewar, Gary Costin, Jimmy Weir, Adrian Achin, Change of address Gary O’Neil and Bernie Lawson or next of kin Advise your Brigade Membership Secretary of any change of address and Please send photographic Head Office of changes to next of kin or prints or digital picture nominations for benefits. files to: Firefighter, FBU, 68 Coombe Road, Kingston FBU FREEPHONE upon Thames, KT2 7AE or LEGAL ADVICE LINE [email protected] 0808 100 6061 Please include FULL DETAILS The line provides advice for for every picture – full names personal injury, family law, wills, conveyancing, personal finance of everyone who is in it; their and consumer issues. station/brigade/watch etc; For disciplinary and employment- where they are in the picture related queries contact your local Tony Tate (r) Daventry, receives Trevor Lund (r) receives his FBU representative. (eg: left to right); their union his 25-year badge from national 25-year badge from North posts/branch if relevant; and officer David Green Yorkshire brigade chair Sean where and when it was taken. Atkinson