Firefighters strike in shifts row

Firefighters walked away from their posts at headquarters in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, at 6pm, despite final pleas earlier in the day from Mark Smitherman, Chief Fire Officer of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, to the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to call off the industrial action.

The dispute erupted over Mr Smitherman's proposals to implement a 12-hour shift pattern, instead of the current pattern of nine- hour days and 15-hour nights.

Last week the fire authority offered to negotiate but the FBU said it would not call off the action unless a threat to sack 744 firefighters as a means of imposing new contracts was withdrawn.

Mr Smitherman said no employees had ever been threatened with dismissal and no jobs would be lost under the new proposals.

He said: "Let me be very clear - what the FBU are referring to as 'sacking' is the 'dismissal and re-engagement' procedure that we, like any other organisation, would have to follow in the event of no agreement being reached and new shift systems imposed."

Firefighters have argued that new shift patterns would present families with various problems, including childcare arrangements.

Ian Murray, the FBU's regional secretary, said: "We will have talks at any time to help resolve this dispute. If the fire authority withdraws its threat of dismissals and enters genuine talks then the strikes can be called off.

"As long as their threat of mass sackings remains, there will be strikes. The fire authority cannot threaten firefighters with the sack and not expect a strike to defend our jobs and contracts of employment."

Mr Smitherman said that, during the strike, managers and volunteers would be manning 15 frontline fire engines and a series of other appliances intended to be used for minor incidents.