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Government still refuses "double-digit "
rise for firefighters
26/11/02
Cuts on the
menu for fire workers
There are
still no signs of a cooling down on the fire fighters' pay dispute.
Echoing
Tony Blair's view, the governor of the bank of England has said a,
"double-digit" pay rise would cause, "cost -pushing inflation
starting with the public sector". And Deputy Prime Minister John
Prescott told the commons that "a menu for modernisation" is the
order of the day.
He said
the strike would have, "no influence" on the amount fire workers
will be awarded and that:
"The
way forward is for the employers and the Fire Brigades Union to sit
down and discuss how quickly the service can be modernised."
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There may well be a need for less people
overall...
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Nick Raynsford, Fire
Minister | A statement
which doesn't stand well next to Fire Brigades Union leader Andy
Gilchrist's position. He stated yesterday, that the government's
tough stance could lead to, "an extremely intractable and difficult
dispute".
Meanwhile, fire minister Nick Raynsford has admitted that the
government wants a smaller more efficient fire service. He told the
BBC:
"There
may well be a need for less people overall... but working in a more
efficient way to ensure that cover to the public is maintained at
the best possible level."
But he
does believe there'll be no need to sack anyone:
"With
prospects over the next few years of substantial numbers of
firefighters due to retire... I'm quite confident that any changes
that need to be introduced can be done [in a way] that involves no
redundancies."
More on
the fire
strike.
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