Firefighters' union calls 24-hour strike

Firefighters' leaders set course for a long and damaging conflict with the Government by naming the date for another strike while Britain is preparing for war in Iraq.

After rejecting an attempt to "clarify" a pay offer of 16 per cent over three years, leaders of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) called a 24-hour stoppage for next Thursday and indicated they would urge a national conference next week to set other days of action. The union is understood to have drawn up a contingency plan for months of walkouts varying from two hours to eight days.

Asked whether the union should be planning industrial action amid preparations for war, Andy Gilchrist, general secretary, said his principal concern was to ensure "decent" terms and conditions for his members. Senior military officers have warned that soldiers who will be needed to crew Green Goddess fire engines on strike days would be required for combat duties.

As firefighters from across Britain lobbied Parliament over their pay claims, representatives of Britain's fire authorities presented a four-page document to the union at a London hotel yesterday aimed at averting fresh industrial action.

After more than two hours of talks with employers, union officials presented the proposal to the FBU executive, which took less than 15 minutes to reject it. The union is concerned that the offer would give local managers unfettered power to vary firefighters' shift systems and working locations.

Mr Gilchrist said the elucidation offered by management made little difference to the offer, which was "entirely unacceptable". He added that the package was worse than the 16 per cent over two years offered by management last November, but vetoed by the Government.

He said: "It was our wish to negotiate and even compromise at this late stage, but fire service employers failed to meet our concerns." The offer would mean "a complete free-for-all" on working conditions and lead to wholesale job cuts.

John Ransford, a director of the Local Government Association who attended yesterday's talks, said the discussion had been "frank and constructive", but insisted that the new document had not compromised over the central proposal, which was to give local management flexibility to introduce new working practices.