Professional Firefighters and Emergency Fire Control staff from all over the United Kingdom, have returned an 87.6% vote in favour of taking national strike action.

FBU members were balloted for a series of discontinuous strikes in support of their current pay claim for a £30,000 salary for Professional firefighters and Emergency Fire Control staff with full pay parity for Professional firefighters working the Retained duty system and a new pay formula to maintain these levels for the future.

Andy Gilchrist, FBU General Secretary said: “This is a phenomenal result and shows the strength of feeling our members have towards winning this dispute. Not one Professional firefighter or Emergency Fire Control staff member took the decision to vote yes in this ballot lightly. Every single one of them knows only too well the risks involved in withdrawing their labour from an emergency service. Our members are absolutely determined to end the tradition of low pay in the Fire Service. Our members are demanding a Professional wage for the Professional job they do. All we are after is £400 per week take home pay which equates to £8.50 an hour.

“We want to see an end to Professional firefighters working a 48 hour shift at the fire station and then instead of going home to their families, going on to another place of employment to get enough money to make ends meet.

“The FBU Executive Council has set the following dates for the initial periods of strike action.

• 0900 hours Tuesday 29th October to 0900 hours Thursday 31st October (48 hours)
• 0900 hours Saturday 2nd November to 0900 hours Monday 4th November (48 hours)
• 0900 hours Wednesday 6th November to 0900 hours Thursday 14th November (8 days)
• 0900 hours Friday 22nd November to 0900 hours Saturday 30th November (8 days)
• 0900 hours Wednesday 4th December to 0900 hours Thursday 12th December (8 days)
• 0900 hours Monday 16th December to 0900 hours Tuesday 24th December (8 days)

Our dispute is not with the public, who are showing us tremendous support and we will therefore ensure public safety is guaranteed for November 5th and the Christmas period. It is still not too late for this dispute to be resolved; the Government now has 10 days to wind-up their discredited, farcical review to allow negotiations to take place and enable the dispute to be resolved before any lives are put at risk.”