Monday, November 3, 2014

Cleveland Fire Brigade chief: 'We have adequately dealt with 65 calls since start of strike'


The head of Cleveland Fire Brigade says the brigade is coping with extended strike action - thanks to public volunteers.


Fire crews across Teesside began four days of industrial action 6pm on Friday and the brigade has now dealt with more than 60 calls since the action started - including a house fire and a road smash on the A19.


During the strike, 47 crew members will be available to cover those on the picket line.


Of these, 22 are professional firefighters who have chosen not to take strike action and 25 are auxiliary firefighters - volunteer members of the public who have been trained up by professionals.


But Cleveland chief fire officer Ian Hayton - who has been in the fire service for 39 years - said today that the force is coping with the calls despite the strike.


He said: “We have adequately dealt with 65 calls since the start of the strike.


“This is roughly one incident and hour, which is the normal rate of calls.


“Our responsibility is to provide the best cover we can in these situations and we have done just that.


“There has been an average of 13 appliances available across the Cleveland area who have dealt with a variety of incidents including house fires, road traffic collisions and small fires in the correct way.


“We will continue our preparations for any call outs we get from now until the end of the strike.


“This is a dispute between central government and the fire brigade over pension reforms and what I want is that nobody gets hurt.”


The long-running strike is over a national dispute surrounding pension arrangements between the Fire Brigade Union and the Government.


The union has accused ministers of refusing to bring any new offer to the table despite two months of talks.


Davy Howe, Cleveland Fire Brigade Union’s secretary, said: “This time of year is obviously busy.


“We did pull back from striking on November 5 but the timing is purely down to the Government’s decision to offer us no more.


“They knew if nothing was going to be put on the table that there would be further strike action.”


James Wharton, Conservative Stockton South MP, has criticised the timing of the action.


He said: “This just underlines why, as we head towards November 5, this is not an appropriate time to strike.


“I have the utmost respect for our firefighters but this strike is wrong, reform is needed to make terms and conditions sustainable and I hope that as many as possible will resist the call to join the picket lines and will go back to work providing this vital emergency service at such a key time.”


The strike ends at 6pm tomorrow - the evening before Bonfire Night.



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