Restart the action now

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irefighters will be confused, and many will be angry, about the decision by the FBU leadership to call off Saturdays planned strike. Only last Wednesday over 5,000 firefighters and their families marched through London in a magnificent show of strength. But now the action has been called off without any hint of a decent settlement. There has been no movement on key issues from the government. The London FBU said on Friday that We understand London members surprise and disquiet at todays decision. Our EC rep voted not to cancel. The dispute on pensions remains live, and no offer has been received from government that the EC considers is worthy of recommendation to FBU members.

Part of Wednesdays London protest

Blinking first

There is obviously a real danger that the employers and the government will see calling off action as a sign of weakness. You only have to look at the lock out at the Grangemouth oil refinery, following the calling off of a strike, to see what can happen when our side blinks first. Our dispute is not an isolated one. Several other groups of workers are fighting back at the moment.

Our planned strike would have taken place just a couple of days after tens of thousands of teachers walked out in regional strikes over pay. Their unions are set to name further action across England. University workers from three unions are set to strike on 31 October, and postal workers plan national action on 4 November. Civil service workers and probation officers are set to strike too. There was a good chance of linking our strike to action by workers across the public sector.

There is a real momentum developing for a fight against the government. There is the potential to turn the words about coordinated strikes at this years TUC Congress into action. We need more strikes because despite some recent noises from Labour on issues like the bedroom tax, party leaders still seem obsessed with distancing themselves from a fightback by the unions. It makes no sense to call off our action. The strike in Scotland was called off without a deal. Now we have called off action in England and Wales for what seems like even less.

An emergency conference

An emergency FBU conference should be called now to discuss the future of the dispute. FBU regions and branches should let the leadership know loud and clear that we want the strikes put back on and that we have to fight to win on pensions and fire safety.

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Firefighters 18/10/13

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