Essex: One hour firefighter strike "without incident" (From Gazette)

Essex: One hour firefighter strike "without incident"

9:22am Saturday 7th July 2012 in News

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is reporting that an hour long strike by union members passed without incident.

Fire Brigades Union members went on strike between 4am and 5am this morning, during which time there were no fire calls.

ECFRS had prepared resilience arrangements and said fire engines were crewed by working firefighters.

A spokesman said: "There were no fire calls during the strike period and at 05:00 hrs, it was back to business as usual.

"ECFRS had some 40 appliances on the run countywide during the stoppage.

"The next strike will be for 24 hours, beginning at 09:00 hrs on July 18.

"Meanwhile, talks with ACAS are ongoing."

Speaking before the strike Keith Handscomb, of the FBU negotiating team, said: “From the union’s perspective, we had some useful exploratory discussions with ACAS people.

"However no substantive progress was made on the issues in dispute.

“We have adjourned and are now awaiting suggestions from ACAS for us to consider about possible ways forward for further exploratory talks.

"In the meantime the frontline cuts and imposed changes continue to be implemented and so the dispute remains very much alive.”