Firemen prepare 1980 claim

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Returned to office after five years of Labour betrayals, The Fire Brigades Union's 9-week long strike during the winter of 1977 will not be far from the minds of the union membership over the next few months in the run-up to this year's wage review.

And though that historic national action was isolated by the TUC and sold out by the FBU " leadership leaving Callaghan's Lib-Lab coalition and its Phase III wage control policy intact, the present Tory government will need no reminding of the enormous display of solidarity and militancy shown by the union's rank and file.

A part of the return to work deal in January 1978 was the tying of firemen's pay to the wages carned by the top quarter of industrial workers-for the following two ycars.

That agreement is now at an end and as from October they are back in the open market.

So it was an older and wiser FBU bureaucracy, headed by veteran Terry Parry, who took Parry the rostrum at the union's annual conference last month.

Parry it was who fought bitterly against the all out strike proposal three years ago, only to be heavily voted down. This time he was more circumspect.

With an EC-backed resolution declaring only the union's desire to 'seek to maintain' their position in the pay league, their stress was on the need for discussion within the Brigades membership and a 'testing of the temperature' In other words a complete absence of Nevertheless, events within the union since the strike indicate an important strengthening of its ability to defend itself from attack in another direction.

For not only has an additional 'McCarthy enquiry' post-strike recommendation that the working week be cut from 48 to 42 hours been implemented, it has been by no means wholly at the expense of working conditions since manpower has increased overall by And this has been achieved in the face of an escalation in public spending cuts generally.

More important, when last autumn Nottingham authorities attempted to sack a number of firemen, a national call brought a massive response with a high proportion of the FBU's 33,000 members turning out-to demonstrate through the town. The sackings were scrapped.

This experience of the power of class action in defence of jobs was confirmed by the conference support for a resolution moved by Bucks Brigade committee delegate Mick Rowlinson calling for an immediate recall conference to consider action in the event of any redundancies being declared.

A similar special conference was agreed to consider the union's position on the wages issue, which is to be convened when both the employers offer is known and the national earnings table published.

While Howe and other Tories drop hints about pay rises in the public sector having to be way below the inflation rate, it is clear the firemen will need 20% plus to retain their present position.

Thatcher may yet be turning out alongside her super-paid army and navy strikebreakers at the wheel of a Green Goddess!