Wiltshire Firefighters will walk out for 24 hours from 9am tomorrow (Thursday) – and again on June 21 — as part of their on-going national dispute with the Government over pension reforms.
On call fire stations, expected to include Marlborough and Pewsey, will be unavailable for emergency calls during the strike periods while the service has plans to maintain fire cover across the county.
In a letter to fire crews, Matt Wrack, general secretary of the South West Fire Brigade Union says: “The fire service employers have claimed throughout the past eight months that this dispute is a matter between the FBU and the relevant Ministers.
“Despite this, many continue to circulate to their staff misleading and one-sided information without applying the same approach to the answers or information provided by the FBU. Others have chosen to victimise our members for taking limited and lawful strike action by docking pay for the duration of any affected shift.”
Chief Fire Officer Simon Routh-Jones says: “By walking out for 24 hours, which will be the longest strike action so far, the FBU is clearly out to cause the maximum disruption. As I have said before, the union’s dispute is with the Government, yet the impact of these strikes is entirely on individual Fire and Rescue Services and the communities we are here to protect.”
The fire service will still respond to 999 calls during the strike periods.
