Essex’s Chief Fire Officer has launched a scathing attack on the unions after a joint statement from Unison and the Fire Brigade Union demanded no job cuts in the face of the Government’s spending review.
Chief Fire Officer, David Johnson, described the statement as “destructive” and “ridiculous” stating that the union’s “head in the sand approach would actively destroy their members jobs”.
“In reality, the cause of the current financial climate is, in fact, totally immaterial. What is material and vitally important to our staff is how we work together to resolve the challenges that it presents to our organisation.
“This destructive, pre-emptive move to engage ECFRS staff in a ridiculous, intransigent position of no job cuts, no changes to the way we work and no frontline cuts cannot be guaranteed until we know the extent of the financial challenge we are facing.
“I have always been open and honest about that and the vast majority of Essex County Fire and Rescue Service staff understand that with a budget cut looking at best around 25 per cent and at worst 40 per cent, we simply cannot continue to do things the way we do them now however much the FBU and Unison kick and scream".
The attack came in response to a joint statement from Unison and the Fire Brigade Union in which they listed their three top priorities as: No job cuts of ECFRS employees from any part of the service, no detrimental changes to their members’ terms and conditions and no frontline cuts adversely affecting the speed or weight of emergency response.