FIRE chiefs are holding international talks which could put foreign firefighters on the streets of Yorkshire if a dispute between regular staff and brigade bosses escalates into a strike, it has emerged.
The move would signal a major development in the way British fire services deal with industrial action, because in the past the Government has always called in the military to take over during strikes.
All brigades have to introduce modernisation following an agreement in 2003 which gave firefighters substantial pay awards in return for agreeing to change.
But the process has been far from smooth and South Yorkshire firefighters have been on the brink of holding strike ballots twice within 12 months. The dispute has not been settled and could still develop into a strike, leaving the service with a legal obligation to find alternative cover.
The Yorkshire Post has learned that talks have been held with a range of businesses, in this country and overseas, including the Danish firm Falk which provides much of that country's fire service on a privatised basis, to provide staff to break the strike.
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman John Hoey said they had a duty to provide fire cover, but the Government had made it clear brigades could no longer expect the military to step in, as they had in previous strikes.
Some brigades have enough non-Fire Brigades Union members to provide some emergency cover but South Yorkshire has fewer than 20 who would be able to work during a strike, meaning the county's residents would be exposed to risk unless contingency arrangements were made.
The Chief Fire Officers' Association has been in a dialogue with organisations including Falk in Denmark and Group Four in this country. The South Yorkshire brigade is still awaiting their decision on an agreement.
If they were signed up to take over during a dispute, it is expected they would use fire engines from a 'pool' of about 50 machines provided by brigades around the country from their own fleets of spare vehicles usually used to cover emergencies such as breakdowns.
Ultimately the brigade could also sanction the use of its fleet of front-line vehicles, a move which has been fiercely contested by the FBU in previous disputes. It is unclear how many private staff would be used, but it is expected it would be a small fraction of the 900 firefighters currently employed.
They would be expected to staff a small fleet of fire engines to provide basic cover in the county, with perhaps eight or ten fire trucks, rather than the conventional fleet of about three dozen.
Mr Hoey said: 'If the companies are in a position to do it, and are willing to do it, then we will do it if the FBU go on strike.' The Government now demands that brigades have arrangements to cover emergencies such as bird flu or even losing a large number of staff following a Lottery win and such companies may be engaged to make up staff shortages in those circumstances.
Mr Hoey acknowledged that private companies taking on the role of striking firefighters could be controversial, however, and said he understood the firms were currently still assessing their positions.
Officially the FBU's position is that the service's contingency plans are not a matter for them but a spokesman doubted the viability of the arrangements on a long-term basis, saying: 'They would have to be trained and accommodated while they were in this country and eventually they would want to return home but contingency arrangements are not something they discuss with us.'
One FBU member in South Yorkshire said: 'It's not difficult to see where problems could develop if they did this. People from outside the UK would have absolutely no geographical knowledge of the area and there may be communication difficulties. The idea of people who have not been fully trained using our machines is also something the FBU has always opposed. We rely on that equipment for our own safety and need to know that it has not been misused.'
A two day strike is planned in Hertfordshire over a staffing dispute from tomorrow and managers are planning to use a combination of non-union members and part-time firefighters, who are in a different union, to provide a limited level of cover.
Meanwhile, the North Yorkshire brigade is embroiled in a separate dispute with its FBU branch over staffing levels.
The FBU is threatening industrial action over what it claims are severe staff shortages. One impact of that, they claim, is that some staff are being told to take on supervisory roles even though they are untrained.
However, Chief Fire Officer Nigel Hutchinson has accused the union of raising unnecessary concern among the public.
14 June 2006
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