Fire strike dates announced

Firefighters are to stage two eight-hour strikes in the capital in a row over new contracts.

Members of the Fire Brigades Union in London will walk out from 10am on October 23 and November 1 after voting by 79 per cent in favour of a campaign of strikes.

The FBU announced the dates after the London Fire Brigade failed to withdraw letters that the union said effectively sacked firefighters, to be re-employed on worse terms.

General secretary Matt Wrack said: "Firefighters hate going on strike, but they hate being bullied even more. The London Fire Brigade needs to lift the sacking notices and start negotiating properly."

The brigade has drawn up contingency plans for dealing with a strike, adding that it can no longer rely on support from the military with their green goddesses as happened in previous disputes.

The authority entered into a five-year, £9 million contract in June 2009 with AssetCo to provide London with a contingency level of fire and rescue services during any industrial action, natural disaster, severe pandemic illness or catastrophic incident.

The fire brigade is proposing to change the start and finish times of duty for its frontline firefighters.

A spokesman said: "The changes would significantly increase the productive time available during the day shift for essential training and community fire safety work to be arranged. For instance, firefighters now prevent fires by visiting Londoners in their homes, fitting free smoke alarms and offering advice on preventing fires."