The union representing retained firefighters across the country is to serve notice of industrial action with its members set to stop answering all but emergency calls from June 6th with weekly escalations to follow culminating in an all-out strike from the 20th planned if issues relating to the structure of their pay are not addressed.
Siptu officials and representatives of the country’s roughly 2,000 retained firefighters, who are employed by their local authorities, met on Friday when there was set to be overwhelming support for the strike action.
“Members from around the country were adamant that they have given the employers enough time to address the situation. They feel the employers have let the firefighters down badly,” said Siptu’s Brendan O’Brien, who said arrangements would be made to provide emergency cover in the event of the strike action proceeding.
Retained firefighters, who make up the vast majority of personnel in the service outside of the larger urban areas, are part-time workers who must abide by strict conditions, including having to reside within a short distance of stations, in terms of availability for call-outs.
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A significant portion of their pay is based on the number and duration of the call-outs they participate in but the overall number of these, the union says, is reducing and one of the main issues in the dispute is a proposed shift to the provision of a larger element of basic pay.
Aside from pay, staffing levels and leave are key issues with Siptu saying recruitment has become a huge challenge and that many serving retained firefighters feel unable to either take leave or permanently depart the service due to the lack of available replacements.
The terms and conditions available were examined in a Government-backed report, Retained Fire Services in Ireland – A Review of Recruitment and Retention and the Future Sustainability of Service Delivery, and the union says its members want the report’s findings implemented.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage says an implementation process is already under way but the union says key recommendations are not being addressed.
“We’ve been in touch over the last over weeks with the department regarding their recommendations,” acknowledges Mr O’Brien, “and they made some proposals with regard to the leave, to bring in additional firefighters which would allow them to take leave and we found that was a positive move which we welcomed.
“But they didn’t make substantial proposals on pay or address the [report’s] recommendation which was to examine different pay models and put something forward to give the firefighters more structured pay. The Government didn’t put anything on the table on that, which is despite the fact that there is a recommendation that they do it. And that’s essentially where the where the discussions broke down.”
In a statement, the department said Darragh O’Brien, “is very aware of the challenges associated with both the recruitment and retention of retained fire personnel being experienced by some local authorities around the country. This is the reason the Minister directed the Management Board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management to review the delivery and sustainability of the local authority ‘Retained’ Fire Services, with particular emphasis on the recruitment and retention of staff.”
It said talks arising out of this review are now ongoing with a third party involved to facilitate progress.
“Changes are necessary to the existing model of retained fire service provision to ensure the future sustainability of the services. Those changes are only possible when all parties work together to achieve an equitable resolution of the issues identified,” it said.
Mr O’Brien said the talks facilitated by the third party had been adjourned on the basis that no further progress could be made.
