The latest round of fire strikes have come to an end – and a senior West Yorkshire fire chief has said a solution needs to be found to solve the impasse between the Fire Brigades Union and the government.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Dave Walton from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service says the brigade is caught in the middle of the row over pension reforms.
The final of a series of one-hour strikes was on Saturday night.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Walton said: “We have now come to the end of the latest FBU strike action which has once again challenged our ability to provide fire cover across the county.
“We would like to record our sincere thanks to those who have been involved in providing the contingency operation, as without them West Yorkshire would have been at more risk than it already was as a consequence of the strike action.
“We continue to find ourselves caught in the middle of what can only be described as an impasse between the FBU and the minister.
“It is now approaching a year since the first industrial action was called on September 25, 2013. As such, we are mindful, as ever, of the disruption but also of the financial cost that comes with industrial action, felt not only by the brigade but also by the West Yorkshire community.
“We implore the minister and union to engage in some meaningful dialogue to bring this situation to an end as soon as possible.”
The decision for strike action relates to an ongoing trade dispute between the FBU and the Government over its public sector pension reform programme.
In particular current proposals to introduce a new Firefighters’ Pension Scheme from April 2015 to replace the two current pension schemes that most operational personnel are in.
