A REBEL firefighters group are threatening industrial action.
They want firefighters who drive emergency vehicles to get additional payments and recognition.
The campaign has been mounted by a maverick group, who can be contacted only by an e-mail address.
And they have called on colleagues to remove all Emergency Fire Appliance Driver/Heavy Goods Vehicle driving capability from the West Yorkshire Fire Service in the near future unless their demands are met.
"That means absolutely no fire engine driving at all," say organisers.
"Maybe this is just the wake-up call that this lacklustre management needs to recognise the importance of the free skill they have been getting all these years."
But Nick Sutcliffe, brigade chairman of the West Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union, who was unaware of the campaign, warned against any industrial action by the mavericks.
He said: "We are against industrial action outside normal negotiating procedures.
"People are leaving themselves wide open to internal disciplinary action if they become involved."
Campaign organisers want:
* The recognition of EFAD/HGV driving as a special skill above the current independent personal development scheme job description.
* An extra payment, a yearly flat rate paid in monthly instalments linked to the pay formula or yearly percentage increase.
* Legal backup from the West Yorkshire Fire Service in case of an accident occurring - regardless of who may be deemed at fault.
* The removal of penalisation system where stations are forced to pay for damage repairs to pumps and drivers subjected to disciplinary procedures.
Campaign organisers said in a statement: "We are promised recognition - it never arrives.
"We are promised payment - it never arrives.
"We are promised driving will be a `special skill' - it never arrives."
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