Firefighters' Pay

What are Firefighters paid?

The basic annual salaries for Firefighters in the UK from November 2003 are as follows:

£18,522 per annum (Firefighter aged 19+ in the first six months of service)
£29,523 per annum (Station Officer in the first six months of service)
£44,385 per annum (Senior Divisional Officer in the first year of service)

This breaks down to an hourly rate of £6.81, £13.47 and £20.26, respectively.

Firefighters' pay is a highly political issue because of a series of national on-off strikes by firefighters during 2002 and 2003, demanding substantial pay rises.

Some 50,000 firefighters nationwide are represented by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), which led the dispute.


Background

Until the Fire Services Act 1959, the Government was responsible for determining Firefighters' pay and conditions. This Act transferred responsibility to the National Joint Council for Local Authorities' Fire Brigades, where it has rested since.

The current Firefighters' pay formula dates back to the settlement of the last major fire service strikes of 1977 and 1978. This linked pay to the 'upper quarter' of 'industrial workers' wages. Since that time, the number, importance and relative pay rates of 'industrial workers' has declined dramatically. At the same time, the demands being placed on firefighters, through expanded duties and staff shortages, were rising.

In 2001 and 2002, Firefighters and the FBU increasingly argued that they were underpaid for the dangerous and demanding work they did, and the FBU began a campaign calling for Firefighters' basic pay to be increased to £30,000 per annum - an increase of 40 per cent.

An initial offer of four per cent from the employers was rejected by the FBU, which was followed by a phased offer of 16 per cent (which would take basic pay up to £25,000) conditional on substantial 'modernisation' - meaning reforming working practices and job losses. This deal fell through, and a 48-hour strike began on November 13 2002, followed by an eight-day strike which started on November 22.

After this strike, the Prime Minister Tony Blair made a statement to the Commons warning that any pay rise above four per cent would have to be compensated with reforms to working practices.

On December 16 that year, the report of the Bain Review - commissioned by the Deputy Prime Minister earlier in the dispute as a means of depoliticising the row - set out an extensive programme for modernisation, linked to a two-year 11 per cent pay settlement.

The FBU rejected the Bain report, but the employers took it up as a precondition of resuming negotiations, resulting in more strikes in early 2003 until eventually the dispute was defused with a phased seven per cent increase. Although protests continued and there were some unofficial strikes, the FBU leadership was satisfied. Following the November 2002 four per cent increase, the second stage of 3.5 per cent was paid on November 7 2003 and the rest will be paid in 2004 after it has been ratified by the Audit Commission.

In June 2003, the Government published its White Paper, 'Our Fire and Rescue Service', which set out plans for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to play a much more active role in pay disputes in future. The Fire Services Bill 2003 will give the Secretary of State a power to impose a solution to fire disputes, to impose conditions on fire brigade members and to issue general directions to Fire Authorities.

FBU members voted by a 3-1 margin in November 2003 to accept the first stage of the pay deal. The third phase, a 4.2 per cent rise, takes effect in July 2004.


Controversies

The FBU claimed that the pay dispute was prolonged by the Government's prevarication: firstly, in not endorsing the 16 per cent offer, and latterly in intervening in support of the employers but without providing additional funding.

The local authorities believed that the firefighters' 40 per cent demand was unreasonable, partly because a settlement had earlier been reached with other local authority staff. The Government also rejected the 40 per cent demand on the basic grounds of cost, and the additional impact it would have in driving up other public sector pay claims. During the dispute, the Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Edward George, spoke out to warn that the deal would fuel inflation and unemployment.

The Army's 'green goddess' fire engines were deployed during the strikes and their shortcomings, in comparison to the Fire Service's modern engines, led many to call for the Government to ban Fire Service strikes, but this option was rejected in the White Paper.


Statistics

The fire strikes saw 800 Army fire engines deployed in place of the usual service level of 3,000 red fire engines

Completion of the 2003 pay deal will see basic pay rise to around £25,000 pa

Statistic 1: (Source: Guardian, January 2003); Statistic 2: (Source: ODPM Select Committee Third Report, January 2004)


Quotes

"The decision to stagger the rise in two stages was pointless, self-defeating and an industrial relations disaster. It caused widespread unofficial action and wiped out months of hard work trying to rebuild trust and confidence. We had a deal and they broke it without gaining anything but the disgust of the public."

Andy Gilchrist, General Secretary, FBU, November 2003

"We intend to take powers to give guidance to any negotiating body which it would have to take into account in its work. The government has a legitimate interest in the outcome of pay negotiations and the impact on public sector pay policy, as well as the impact on the operation of the service, but we should not and do not want to step into the shoes of the fire and rescue authorities as employers. Rather than be drawn into detailed consideration of options as negotiations develop, we will set out our requirements openly before negotiations start. It will then be for the two sides to reach agreement within those limits."

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 'Our Fire and Rescue Service', June 2003