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Wholetime, Retained or just Firefighter?
By Eduardo Cardoso, Fairness at Work Representative,
Berkshire Fire Brigade.
The principal aim of a firefighter is "to protect and save people and property from fire and other hazards in the most effective manner, to the highest possible standard of care and quality". I challenge anyone in our Brigade to find a colleague who does not meet the criteria set in the above paragraph. Whether an individual is wholetime or retained they will always do their best. When you are on the fire ground can you tell the difference? The Fire Brigades Union (and only the FBU) has campaigned on behalf of our retained members for a pension scheme based on the “Fireman’s Pension” and has recently taken the employers to an industrial tribunal. The outcome of the Croydon tribunal will have a fundamental effect on the shape of our service in the future. When (not if) the FBU win the argument, we will no longer have a wholetime and retained service, we will just have firefighters who are contracted to do an x amount of hours. All will then have to be trained to the same standards to ensure equality. We already have a system in place which allows retained personnel to get qualified to the same technical level as wholetime firefighters. We have a system in place which also allows these same firefighters to prove their practical competence. It's called the NVQ. National Vocational Qualifications although not liked by the majority (myself included) are a means of measuring competence against a set standard. These can be achieved by anyone including non local authority firefighters. Once the standard is met, an individual can then transfer from one service to another. The main impact of a lateral transfer would be that we get qualified personnel on duty from day one. Their may even be an argument that their would be no need to go to training school, although this would probably cause some debate. We have a system where wholetime and retained firefighters mix crew the same wholetime appliance. We have a situation where retained personnel are doing full time hours but are treated and paid differently by management. Times are changing and we have to rise to the challenges facing us. In the 21st Century, in a country that prides itself on being able to tell right from wrong, it is not acceptable to have two individuals doing the same job side by side getting paid two vastly different rates, not receiving the same level of training, not having the same conditions and rights. We have seen huge changes in the Fire Service in recent years, but I believe the biggest changes are just round the corner. These are challenging times for us all and you should make sure that you are at the heart of all the issues affecting you. Don't leave your ideas and frustrations around the mess table or station.
IT'S YOUR UNION, YOU HAVE A VOICE, YOU HAVE A CHOICE, USE IT !!
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