Going on strike is the hardest thing for any worker to do. It means loss of pay and potential criticism from the public. But in a firefighters’ case, because of the nature of the work we do, withdrawing labour is the last resort.
So why am I taking part in a second round of strikes starting 31 October? The government wants to me to work on the frontline until I am 60 years old instead of 55, pay more into my pension and get less when I retire.
Although like any other worker, my plans for a comfortable retirement are important, this strike is not purely to do with our pension pots.
As a highly trained professional service we deal with some of the worst scenes in society. The Fire Brigades Union has shown evidence that government plans are not only unfair to firefighters pensions but a threat to public safety in general.
The majority of brigades measure a firefighters’ fitness using a safety-related level of aerobic fitness. A recent academic report said that firefighters with an aerobic capacity below a certain level would not be safe and effective in their job.
However, when defending their proposed changes, the government said those below this level would be fit enough to work until 60.
Put simply these proposals will lower standards, meaning that not only will the public get a poorer service which could result in needless injuries and deaths, but that my colleagues and I are at greater risk of heart attacks and sudden death when attending these emergencies.
In early 2013, Dr Tony Williams published a Westminster-sanctioned review of the government’s own pensions’ policy for firefighters, but the report does not provide evidence to support the government proposals for a normal pension age of 60.
The only way such a change could be achieved is by significant changes in policy around entry standards, improved monitoring of our health, improved arrangements for fitness training and a range of other measures.
The plan would mean that lots of firefighters would be unable to reach pension age, and could potentially lose a huge chunk of their pensions because they could not physically do the job anymore.
After our first strike in June, the new fire minister Penny Mourdaunt made some promising statements. She seemed genuinely interested in addressing the concerns we raised following our first round of strikes even going so far as to tweet about how productive the meetings were with FBU officials.
And yet after two months of negotiations, the government comes back with nothing – no revision to their previous proposals despite the mountain of professional evidence, and indeed their own review, that supports our case.
It was a bitter pill to swallow as the union has shown the willingness to resolve the dispute reasonably. But it would be a dereliction of duty to the public and firefighters who are trained to keep people safe, if we did not escalate our strike action.
So if you walk by a picket line today, just remember, we are the people who go into the burning buildings to keep you safe.
I deserve my pension and the UK deserves a fire service fit for the 21st century.
Andrew Knowles is a firefighter in Essex
This article was amended to reflect that the national strike began on 31 October not 1 November as originally stated.
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