Firefighters' leader warns of national walkout

Union chief tells New Labour a confrontation with his members could cost it dear

Andy Gilchrist will soon become a household name.

Mr Gilchrist, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), predicts that unless there is a drastic change in the attitude of the Government there will be an overwhelming vote for a national strike by his members – a majority of at least 75 per cent – and that will be followed by walkouts next month.

The 41-year-old describes the 4 per cent pay offer from employers as "derisory'' and spent last weekend preparing colleagues for a long and difficult confrontation.

It's difficult to exaggerate the potential political significance of the impending conflict. It will certainly loom large over the TUC's annual conference, which begins in Blackpool today, and it will also cast a long shadow over the Labour Party conference, which follows in a fortnight's time in the same town.

It will form by far the biggest industrial test Labour has faced since it came to power in 1997. In some senses it will also be a war between Old and New Labour.

For Mr Gilchrist's 55,000 firefighters, it will be a fight to end what they regard as poverty pay in the fire service. Some members of the FBU with families are forced to claim state benefits.

Mr Gilchrist said: "I've spent literally weeks visiting firefighters and control room staff all over the country and the support for industrial action is absolutely overwhelming. They are extremely reluctant to take any form of action, but they believe that the way we have been treated over the last three or four months by employers has been absolutely shameful."

At the moment qualified personnel are paid £21,500 a year, courtesy of a formula that settled the first national fire strike, which lasted for nine weeks in 1977-78. By the union's estimates, the basic wage is about 20 per cent below the national average. The union is demanding a new mechanism for setting wages and a £30,000 minimum for qualified staff.

The employers – made up of a range of local authorities – recently offered a 4 per cent increase, but Mr Gilchrist argues that the existing "discredited'' pay formula would have given them more.

"That really was an insult. It has gone down very badly with my members.'' The FBU leader calculates the old mechanism would have given firefighters nearer 5 per cent.

While there seems little doubt that a large majority of FBU members back some form of action, there is no unanimity on precisely what kind. Some on the executive of the union – dominated by the left with a 17-3 majority – believe there should be an all-out national strike, others argue that discontinuous stoppages would be more appropriate.

This Thursday in Manchester the division will surface at an emergency national conference of the union. Mr Gilchrist said: "There is no left-right split over whether there should be a dispute. Sometimes there is a debate over fine-tuning. At the conference on Thursday there will be a debate over whether there should be continuous or discontinuous action, but that's a healthy thing."

But what about firefighters who believe they should never withdraw their labour because of the danger to the public?

''The FBU is a truly democratic union, but it is also disciplined. We have gone through all the democratic hoops.

"In recent disputes in Merseyside and Essex, there were no scabs, no uncrossed picket lines. Members fiercely defend their right to argue with the leadership, but once the decision is taken, that's it,'' he added. The union will release a report later this week showing how the work of firefighters has changed.

"People used to say that all we did was to squirt water at fires, but the report will confirm that the job now requires a high degree of skill in all kinds of rescue techniques and in the methods of fighting fires caused by dangerous chemicals,'' Mr Gilchrist said.

He indicated that he was prepared to negotiate over the call for a £30,000 basic – which constitutes an increase of nearly 40 per cent and would cost the state an extra £450m.

He is convinced the Government intervened recently to prevent employers offering a 15 per cent rise. "That made us very angry. It was extremely unhelpful.

"Nick Raynsford [the minister responsible for the fire service] denied that he had stepped in and I have to accept his word. But I have it on very good authority that the Government got involved.''

The firefighters' leader warned those in New Labour who may think that the impending strike is an opportunity to confront a key public service union and defeat it. "Most people feel frustrated with New Labour. They are full of wheezes and half-baked ideas. If any of them think they would like to take us on, they should be aware that these are firefighters not miners. I haven't met a member of the public who has got a bad word to say about firefighters.

"Those who believe that they don't do much on duty, should think about what they do in the middle of the night when everybody else is asleep, they should think about how they risk their lives on a regular basis and they should think about disasters like Paddington where firefighters played such an important role.''

The union's leadership recently defeated a move by the ultra-left in the union to end its link with the Labour Party. "If the Government is determined to have a confrontation, there will be increasing frustration and more people will ask why we are involved with them at all,'' Mr Gilchrist warned.

His antagonism does not, though, extend to the soldiers who will crew the Green Goddess fire engines used to provide cover during stoppages. "We have absolutely no issue with people who have to follow such orders. But we do have serious concerns about their safety. They will be going into situations they are not trained to handle."

The CV

Born: Portsmouth, 1960.

Education: O-levels from comprehensive school in Bedfordshire, dropped out of Open University course funded by the FBU.

Family: Married with two children.

Career: Joined Bedfordshire fire service in 1979 and served at Dunstable and Luton fire stations as a firefighter and graduated to leading firefighter. Was elected on to the FBU national executive in 1993 after working his way up through every rank in the union. Became an FBU national official in 1996 and was given special responsibility for equal opportunities. In 2000 he was elected general secretary after the retirement of Ken Cameron.

Politics: Was inspired to political activism in 1976 when he attended a Rock Against Racism concert. Has joined several anti-war protests.