Gilchrist humiliated as fire union rejects latest offer on pay

Strike: Members turn down 16% proposal despite leader's warning that the FBU could become 'first casualty of war'

The threat of fresh national fire strikes loomed again last night after activists overwhelmingly rejected a pay offer accepted by their leaders.

In a humiliating rebuff to Andy Gilchrist, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), representatives from all over Britain threw out the latest and "final'' proposals tabled by management and endorsed by the Government.

Mr Gilchrist had warned delegates at an emotional emergency meeting that rejection would be "foolhardy'' when British troops were about to go into battle in Iraq.

In a closed meeting in Brighton of 250 FBU activists, Mr Gilchrist said: "I am worried that we would be the first casualty of war and be smashed as a union. This is not a time to tear this union apart. Trust the members to decide.''

Delegates severely undermined Mr Gilchrist's authority by rejecting a 16 per cent pay offer over three years with only a few brigades backing him. Mick Shergold, regional secretary of the union in London, which proposed the motion rejecting the deal, called the package "completely unacceptable''.

But he said a decision by Mr Gilchrist and the union's executive to call off a strike due to begin at 6pm today still held and that a consultation process would take place in the next two weeks. A national conference would decide the next moves.

"I am aware that a considerable number of our members are uncomfortable about taking action during a war, despite the fact that an overwhelming majority are opposed to it,'' Mr Shergold said.

The vast majority of delegates rejected a proposal by the national executive to accept the offer and endorsed the London's region's motion.

Mr Gilchrist denied that the vote was a personal defeat that undermined his position. "I don't see it as humiliating, it simply shows that this is a truly democratic and representative union. If the membership decides the offer is unacceptable no doubt they will be asking us to set further strike dates. In our union we are quite used to heated disputes and people expressing their point of view.''

Supporting the leadership, delegates from the West Midlands said the union must take a "reality check'' and consider the grave context of the dispute. A minority of activists said ministers were unlikely to reconsider the package and industrial action would split the union.

While an offer last week said that sweeping changes to working practices could be decided by local managers, the proposals made on Tuesday said any new measures could only be introduced after fire authorities had sought consensus.

The FBU executive also said a fresh document from management preserved the status of the national agreement.

Demands and offers

The claim: Last summer the FBU submitted a claim for a 40 per cent rise which would put firefighters on £30,000 a year. The FBU sought to replace an automatic pay formula and wanted pay parity for part-time firefighters and control room staff.

Last week's offer: The proposal involved a 16 per cent increase over three years with new working practices. The document suggested part-time firefighters should be paid the same hourly rate as their full-time colleagues and proposed a working party to determine the wages of control room staff.

The new offer: The proposals on pay remain the same. Union leaders believe, however, that important safeguards over the modernisation of the fire service and firefighters' terms and conditions have been included. They also stress that consensus would be sought on new working practices. Management and ministers say the offer is fundamentally the same.

'Ministers have slapped us in the face'

Neil Williams believes the proposals accepted by his union are "almost identical'' to those rejected as totally unacceptable by the FBU only last week.

The 39-year-old firefighter in Islington, north London, is bitterly opposed to the agreement. "I am completely committed to the strike and I disagree with the executive's decision which I believe will lead to the decimation of the fire service, reduced fire cover for the public and worse conditions for firefighters,'' he said.

Mr Williams, a Welshman who has spent 20 years in the London Fire Brigade, said that, as well as costing him £1,000 in lost wages, the conflict had disrupted family life and he was anxious for it to come to an end. The FBU activist, who was attending the emergency conference in Brighton yesterday, pointed out that firefighters in London had strongly rejected the first offer and their representatives had rejected the latest formulation on Tuesday. "We don't want abject surrender,'' he added.

He said the dispute began with a claim for a pay increase from £21,500 to £30,000 and a demand for a new pay formula to dictate firefighters' wages. The present package would deliver a £25,000 basic for qualified firefighters, but only as part of a three-year deal.

"Firefighters were hailed as heroes after 11 September. Ministers have now slapped us in the face,'' Mr Williams said.

He acknowledged the union was involved in a dispute at a sensitive time. But, he said: "We cannot allow the Government to use the cover of war to smash our union."