ALERTER
Fighting for
firefighters
working the
retained
duty system
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004
FRONTLINE
A great many FBU members lead
double (professional) lives. One life
in a factory or other place of work.
Another life “on-call”. Firefighter talked
to three firefighters working the retained
duty system in the North East
THE DOUBLE LIFE
F
IREFIGHTERS working the retained duty system
provide the backbone of the Fire and Rescue
Service in most parts of the UK. In some parts of
the UK they are the fire service.
There are many tales of members of the public turning
up at their local fire station to thank firefighters for one
deed or another only to find it “closed”. Most are simply
unaware of the fact that 60% of the country is covered
by retained firefighters on-call rather than wholetimers.
The fact is that retained firefighters are a part of the
fire service that few outside the service even know exist,
let alone understand. There are also some within the
fire service who do not fully appreciate how the system
works.
Those working the retained duty system staff close
on 900 fire stations and also work on a further 160 or so
shift stations, working alongside whole time colleagues.
Typically they are on-call between 70 and 168 hours a
week although this is in the process of reducing to 120
hours a week, giving them 2 days free from work.
In all, there are around 18,000 retained UK firefighters,
serving, protecting and educating their local communities, on-call to respond to a whole range of emergency
incidents. The public are unaware of any differences
2 Alerter November/December 2004
between wholetime and retained firefighters.
And like people from all walks of life and in all professions and trades, firefighters working the retained duty
system have to juggle their work and personal commitments. But what makes them different from most other
workers is that they also have other jobs to do too.
This tends to mean having a community spirited
employer prepared to release people for retained firefighting
duties. Like Mark Clayton who works at Headland Fire Station,
on the outskirts of Hartlepool in the North East.
The 23-year old also manages the local pub, where he
puts in around 50 hours a week. “The rest of the time I’m
on call,” he says. Mark, was introduced to the job by his
girlfriend’s brother, a retained firefighter. “The job has
its ups and downs, but I enjoy it,” says Mark. “It’s also an
opportunity to meet people,” he adds.
But it’s more than that for Mark. Before becoming
a key person in the local area by running the local pub
(often the heart of a local community) he worked with
people with learning difficulties.
Clearly meeting and helping others is one of the
reasons people are attracted to the retained system.
Mark’s colleague, Andrew Remmer, says it is all those plus
the chance of staying active.
Retained Firefighters
at their ‘day jobs’:
Mark Clayton, Mark
Copeman and Andrew
Remmer
OF FIREFIGHTERS
... and working for the
Fire and Rescue Service
With a background in the army and subsequent experience at working in steelworks, 28-year old Andrew has
been working the retained system at Headland Fire
Station for around three years.
And his other life? “I work full-time at a call centre:
rolling shifts at 37.5 hours a week between 8am-8pm
with an hour for breaks. But it is not that active and I like
being active. I like to be out and about.”
That’s where retained firefighting fits in. “I like
getting in there, meeting people – some interesting,
some not,” he says, joking about his fellow firefighters
at the station.
Firefighters working the retained duty system must
live and work near the fire station. Andrew couldn’t get
any closer. “I live some about 5 metres from the station,
pretty much across the road,” he says.
Despite this, there are pressures having to juggle
work and the demands of family life.
“It can be hard. I’m married, and I’ve got a baby
daughter as well. It’s not a great trouble but if I have to
go out [on call] there are times when my wife is not too
happy about it.”
“Still, I enjoy the job, it is very worthwhile.”
Mark Copeman (being called Mark is not criteria for
the job at Headland Fire Station Firefighter is assured) is
really enthused about his work as the station. “I always
wanted to do it since I was a kid. But when I applied to be
a firefighter when I left school they said why don’t you
get a trade first.
“So I went off to be a diesel fitter and didn’t back
round to the fire service for another 12 years. When I
moved to the Headland area and when I heard there were
vacancies at a retained station there I jumped at the
chance,” says Mark, whose 33 years old.
“It’s an exciting job. You get to work with a really good
crowd, and a lot of extensive training that I’m really interested in. I like the community fire safety work and the
home visits. I like being out and about.”
Mark also works in a window factory that manufactures double glazing. “I book off from the fire brigade at
7 o’clock in the morning, start work at 8 at the window
place and finish at half four and back with the brigade
at 6pm.
“I work most weekends as a retained firefighter, on
call 24 hours a day.” There are the emotional ups and
downs of the job as well.
“I’ve seen kids we’ve rescued from a house left, one
Christmas Eve, with a home that’s a burnt out shell,” says
Mark. A life saved but a family’s Christmas ruined.
“There are loads of jobs [call outs] where you come
off with a sense of achievement. Even if it’s a flood and
you’ve managed to rescue some old lady’s prize dog out
of the back garden. To her the dog might have meant
more than the house.”
Mick Jones, who sits on the Retained National
Committee, is also based at Headland Station. “We have
people from all walks of life serving this community as
retained firefighters.
“It is sometimes difficult to explain what we do to the
public. Most of them have no idea how the fire service
works, they just know that it does.
“We have been out recruiting recently because
it’s important to keep a flow of people into the job to
maintain staffing levels. If that flow is not maintained
you run into shortages and then everyone’s under far
more pressure.
“With the retained service you need the right balance
because we are employed on the basis that we have other
jobs, although a small number don’t.
“Some brigades treat retained stations almost as if they
are wholetime stations.
“Some retained stations are run understaffed but are
given a phenomenal amount of work with too few people.
It impacts on the main employer who might have given
consent and now sees one of their workforce coming in
tired every week because of the sheer volume of shouts
“That is where the balance can break down and over
time it can become more difficult to keep some retained
firefighters in the service. The crucial thing is to address
those issues before they become a problem.
“We have been recruiting at Headland recently and
when we go out and highlight the retained service there
is interest.
“But you have to be close to the station, have the right
approach and fitness and work for a community spirited
employer and not everyone can put all that together.”
November/December 2004 Alerter 3
RETAINED
The FBU is urging the Fire and Rescue Service to mount a sustained
retention and recruitment drive in a report that reveals that the shortfall
in fire crews has reached epidemic levels across the UK
T
HE fire service needs to recruit at least
3,000 firefighters to work the retained
duty system, says a major new report
from the FBU. The report says there are acute
shortages across the UK, leaving many areas
with a depleted fire service.
The union says a recruitment drive and
improved ser vice are firmly in line with
Government commitments – and those of other
political parties – to plough more money into
frontline public services. The report – Off the
Run – warns that without long-term investment
the firefighter shortage among those working
the retained duty system will get worse.
The FBU’s 14,000 members who work
the retained duty system are seriously overstretched at a time when 999 calls have hit
record levels and there are record numbers
of fires. The current approach is to try and
make do with inadequate resources, trading
on the goodwill of an already over-stretched
workforce and their main employers.
This creates problems with retention and
recruitment to a genuinely community-based
service provided in most areas of the UK. The
Off the run
union is calling for an end to a culture which
sees retained firefighters simply as a way
of providing a fire service on the cheap. This
culture leads to recruitment and retention
problems and a poor perception within the fire
service itself.
FBU General Secretary Andy Gilchrist said:
“The shortage is acute and getting worse. In many
areas a considerable number of fire engines are
unavailable every day because of firefighter
shortages. We need a national campaign to
raise awareness and properly funded recruitment campaigns. The current low-key piecemeal
approach is half-hearted and simply not working.
Retained firefighters are a significant part of the
fire service and they need to be valued far more
highly than they are now. They do the same job
as wholetime fire crews but are viewed within
CAMPAIGN
SNAPSHOT
WOKINGHAM has only half the ideal number
of retained employees required to provide 24hour cover in the town. The shortage means
the crew at Wokingham is off the run around
33 per cent of the time. Eddie Cardoso, station
commander for the Denton Road station, is
urging anyone interested in joining the fire
service to go along to the station to find out
more about the job.
Wokingham Times
WOMEN who work at home are being urged to
join the retained fire service to combat a daytime shortage. The call comes after a report by
4 Alerter November/December 2004
the service as the poor relations. That attitude
has to change, it is part of the problem.
Morris Butterfield, FBU executive council
member for Retained who works in the
Highlands and Islands said: “It is only in the last
few years that we have had any paid holidays.
The provision of proper pension rights and sick
leave would also enhance recruitment.
“We are making do with inadequate resources
and trading on the goodwill of an over-stretched
workforce and their main employers. We need
to look at providing incentives to employers to
release staff and build better links with business
and the self employed.
“Once we get them in, the fire service needs
to value them more than they do now. The
retained are a unique link between communities and public services and that also needs to
the Fire Brigades’ Union (FBU) said a shortage of
crews had reached “epidemic” levels in the UK,
leaving many regions with a depleted service.
Cambridgeshire FBU secretary Adrian Clark,
who is a full-time firefighter at Stanground Fire
Station, said: “The retained firefighters do a
fantastic job. Anywhere up to 18 retained firefighters are needed to cover a one-pump station,
but because some cannot be available at certain
times of the day, we need a bigger number to
ensure cover. It needs to be a joint effort by
the union, the service, and the Government, to
increase recruitment.”
Peterborough Evening News
SOUTH Wales’ Senior Divisional Officer Ray
Jones, who is in charge of the Fire and Rescue
Service in the Gwent area, said there is a
shortage of approximately 40.
South Wales Argus
VINCENT Jell, chairman of the Suffolk Fire
Brigades’ Union, has called for more retained
WHAT THE FBU IS CALLING
FOR:
● Consider incentives for employers to release staff to
work as firefighters including tax or business rate
rebates;
● Persuade public sector employers to encourage their
workforce to become firefighters working the retained
duty system;
● Recruitment underpinned by equal treatment, equal pay
and equal rights;
● An end to the culture that firefighters working the
retained duty system are there to provide a fire service
on the cheap;
● Ending the current practice of using surplus money from
retained budgets (because of lack of recruitment) for
other purposes
of the Deputy Prime Minister, many brigades
and others have failed to do,” says Morris
Butterfield. “The launch of our campaign to
improve the recruitment of retained firefighters put the issue into the public arena and
forced many fire authorities to admit there was
a significant shortage – and prompted some
fire authorities to call for recruits and organise
recruitment initiatives.
The campaign is not before time, with widespread shortages putting considerable pressure
on crews. Dermott Rooney, a retained firefighter
in Northern Ireland told Firefighter: “Retained
Firefighters are being stretched to the limits.
Under staffing in fire stations is having a detrimental effect on home and family life.”
be valued and built on.”
The union’s campaign document “Off
the Run” has been sent to all MPs, peers, fire
authorities and chief fire officers. It was
followed by a media launch which again highlighted the shortages, most of which are hidden
to the public.
“The union managed to do what the Office
firemen and women in the county. Mr Jell
said: “When you get into the rural areas
it relies whole-heartedly on retained
members. But the shortages are getting
that large that is has to be tackled on a
national level.”
Ipswich Evening Star
THE retained fire service in the Kettering
area is in crisis and only a major recruitment drive can prevent it from getting
worse, a firefighter claims. Gar y
Mitchell, who is also county secretary
for the Fire Brigade Union, said: “The
retained service in this area is in crisis
and every day there are at least five
retained stations that cannot respond
to fires as they do not have the staff
to crew the appliances. There needs to
be a sustainable recruitment drive and
some sort of incentive for employers to
release their staff.”
Kettering Evening Telegraph
THERE is a warning lives are being put at risk
because of a crew shortage at a Gloucestershire
fire station. Recruitment problems have reduced
the number of staff at Wotton-under-Edge from
12 to eight.
Senior Station Officer Chris Young says local
businesses who employ retained firefighters
could do more to help ease the situation. “We
have employers in the area who will not allow
firefighters to respond. That is causing big
problems,” he said.
BBC Gloucestershire
GAINSBOROUGH fire station has engines
sitting idle during emergencies because
there are not enough firefighters to man
them. The town’s station is just one of 10
in the county which are reaching crisis level
because of a shortage of retained firefighters.
The service needs at least 37 extra
officers to bring all its stations up to strength.
Although Gainsborough is partly staffed by
full-time firefighters, other county stations
like Bardney, Wragby and Binbrook often
cannot respond to emergencies at all.
Lincolnshire Fire Brigades Union secretary
Barry Foster today warned that this can
add up to 20 minutes to response times. He
said: “This is a very serious situation. I think
it is partly due to employers being unable
or unwilling to release people from their
jobs. Also people lead busier lives and it is
more difficult for them to commit to such a
demanding second job.
“We are considering ideas such as creches
or quick response child care to make the
service more flexible. The shortages mean
that the retained firefighters we do have are
on call for much longer hours, which impinges
on their family and private life.
“We have seen a number of people leaving
the retained service recently because of the
extra hours they are having to do, and of
course this creates a vicious circle.”
Lincolnshire Echo
November/December 2004 Alerter 5
CAMPAIGN
Leave to appeal sought in thre-year legal battle
to secure equal rights for retained firefighters
PENSION BATTLE
HEADS FOR LAW LORDS
T
HE Union is taking its battle for equal
pension and sick pay rights for retained
firefighters to the House of Lords. The
move comes after a partial victory at the Court
of Appeal in a crucial test case, but some key
legal arguments were lost.
The appeal court accepted that retained
firefighters work to the same contracts as
wholetime firefighters, which is a critical ruling
for other part-time workers. But the appeal
court accepted the employers’ arguments that
retained firefighters did not do the same or
broadly similar work as wholetime firefighters
and rejected that part of the appeal.
The court found that wholetime firefighters had “measurable additional job
functions,” including education and preventative work. The union is petitioning the House
of Lords for leave to appeal. The final outcome
in the case will impact on retained firefighters
in every brigade in the UK with the exception of
even limited sick leave; they were not given to
us because they liked us.”
“Our 14,000 retained members are still
treated by employers as second class firefighters
only entitled to second class rights. Yet in many
parts of the country they are the Fire Service.
“The public cannot tell any difference
between a retained firefighter and a whole
time firefighter because they see them doing
the same job. We believe our retained members
are entitled to the same pension and sick pay
rights as whole time firefighters.
“This union is not just going to sit back
and whinge about the unfairness of it all. We
are prepared to take this case all the way to
secure equal rights for retained firefighters and
wholetime firefighters support those moves
because they know it is the right thing to do.”
The Union’s case is that retained firefighters do the same work and discriminating
between retained and wholetime is unlawful
Retained members are fed up being looked on
by management as a fire service on the cheap.
A firefighter is a firefighter is a firefighter.
They are doing the same job and they are
entitled to the same benefits
London which has no retained firefighters.
General Secretary Andy Gilchrist said: “The
FBU is alone in showing that we are prepared
to fight through the courts to secure justice
for every retained firefighter in the UK. We had
to fight for holiday rights and the rights to
6 Alerter November/December 2004
under the Part-time Workers Regulations. The
employer’s legal case rests on pointing to
minute differences in the contracts between
retained and wholetime.
Their legal case is that whole time firefighters and retained firefighters are not
engaged in the same or broadly similar work
and so are not covered by the regulations
which prohibit discrimination against part-time
workers. The employer’s legal case is founded
on what amounts to little more than a “spot
the difference” argument about the work and
contracts of retained and wholetime crews.
The union’s legal team argued there was
no real difference. The employer’s legal team
at one stage suggested that retained firefighters did little more than attend incidents
until wholetimers arrived.
“I almost fell of my seat when I heard that”
said Morris Butterfield. “In the Highland and
Islands – where I am from – there are only 3
wholetime stations to cover an area the size
of Belgium, the rest are retained. It’s similar
in some other parts of the UK: the first and
only firefighters at the scene are retained
firefighters; they really were astonishing
comments to make.
“Retained firefighters make up about a third
of the operational fire service. We are skilled in
what we do and flexible in how we do it.
“The employers claim they want a modern
fire service yet they practice old fashioned
discrimination against us. The fire service will
not be modern until we are all treated in the
same way and entitled to the same rights.”
The test case is being taken by 12 retained
firefighters, 6 from Kent and 6 from Berkshire.
These 12 “lead” cases have been whittled down
from 12,000 cases started by FBU members in
employment tribunal in 2001.
Although retained members may have
strong views about even being thought of as
part-time given the hours they are on-call,
those are the only laws which can be used to
make the legal challenge. The union has set
aside significant sums of money to fight the
case to its conclusion.
Colin Elliot, a retained firefighter from
Wokingham in Berkshire and one of the firefighters named in the test case said: “I’ve been
a retained firefighter for 22 years and we deal
with any incident. We attended the fire which
nearly destroyed Windsor Castle, and that was
major news.
“In 1990 we spent all day recovering bodies
and putting out fires when there was the M4
motorway pile up that claimed 13 lives. We live
and work in the communities we serve and
operationally we do the same work.
“Retained firefighters feel very strongly
about this issue. I have seen colleagues leave
the service after 25 and more years without a
pension and that is unjust.
“At the original tribunal I heard the
employers arguing about some small differences and some of those were wrong. They
really were scraping the bottom of the barrel
in some of the claims they were making. Their
claims about differences between wholetime
and retained simply do not stand up.”
This union is not just going to sit back and
whinge about the unfairness of it all. We are
prepared to take this case all the way to
secure equal rights for retained firefighters
The union is represented by leading employment and pension lawyers Thompsons solicitors, Brian Langstaffe QC and barrister Martin
Seaward.
Richard Arthur of Thompsons said: “This
is the first major test case on the Part-Time
Workers Regulations. The Court of Appeal
decision was legally important for other part
time workers and was a significant if partial
victory. But the House of Lords is the next step
to try and resolve the outstanding issue and
the union is clearly not letting the matter go.”
Kent FBU Chair Mark Simmons – a
wholetime firefighter – whose members are
involved in the Court of Appeal case against
their Fire Authority said: “Retained members
are fed up being looked on by management as
a fire service on the cheap. A fire fighter is a
firefighter is a firefighter. They are doing the
same job and they are entitled to the same
benefits.
“Winning this battle would do so much
for the morale of those in the service and
such a boost for recruiting new retained firefighters into the fire service. The problem is
the employers have fought against it for years
although these new regulations have given us
another way to challenge them.”
November/December 2004 Alerter 7
A cheap option for long enough
HAVING just completed my third year of a
four-year term in office as Executive Council
member for firefighters working the Retained
Duty System, I would like to reflect on the
last three years which has been dominated by
the pay campaign.
There have been many highs and lows
during the campaign but we have achieved
the parity and equality we asked and fought
for. We will still continue to negotiate with
our employers to enhance the Retaining Fee
to truly reflect the commitment given by
Firefighters on the Retained Duty System.
During this period we have still managed
to:
● Continue our fight to achieve a pension
through an employment tribunal, the
Employment Appeal Tribunal, the High Court
of Appeal and now seeking permission to
appeal to the House of Lords. A tactic of
our employers is to fail recognise that we
do the same or broadly similar work as our
wholetime colleagues and continue to treat
us as a cheap option.
● Produce a document called “Off the Run”
which once again highlights the enormous
problem of the recruitment and retention of
firefighters on the Retained Duty System. This
is in answer to the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister’s review of the retained service
produced by the Retained Review Team. The
review is heavily influenced by the RFU and
detrimental to the service, health and safety,
pay and conditions and does not address the
problem of funding the retained service.
A negotiated agreement was reached
on the 26th of August 2004. This does not
mean that the attacks of Government and
Morris Butterfield,
FBU National
Executive Council
member for retained
firefighters, says
they must be
recognised as
equals and treated
as such
employers will cease. The change agenda in
the fire service continues as it does in every
other public service.
Integrated Risk Management Plans,
Integrated Personal Development System,
Community Fire Safety, Rank to Role, 120
hours for full cover and a new pay formula
within the Associate Professional and
Technical pay classification will have an
effect all Firefighters on the Retained Duty
System.
I have to thank Andy Gilchrist (General
Secretary), Mike Fordham (Assistant General
Secretary), John McGhee (National Officer)
and Ruth Winters (President) who have
supported the National Retained Committee
and all our members during the long
negotiations throughout the campaign and
will continue to do so in the struggles to come.
We have been looked on as a CHEAP
OPTION for long enough. We must be united
and send a message to our employers that we
are to be recognised as equals and be treated
fairly on all the issues which were agreed
by the National Joint Council, especially the
shortening of full cover to 120 hours from
168 hours in line with Family Friendly Policies.
FBU National Retained Committee
Secretary (acting)
Chair
Region 1
Region 2
Region 3
Region 4
Region 5
Mr P Preston
D Cotter
Mr T Mitchell
Mr J McMillen
Mr M Jones
Mr B Clarke
Mr M Parkinson
Region 6
Region 7
Region 8
Region 9
Region 11
Region 12
Region 13
Morris Butterfield: 07718 159 223
Contact FBU Head Office on 020 8541 1765 or offi[email protected]
for contact details of the members of the National Retained Committee
Mr T Day
Mr R Price
Mr P Preston
Mr K Kiddell
Mr R Potter
Mr R Dewis
Mr L Redman