FIRE Brigades Union officials have left Service headquarters at Kelvedon Park without signing the agreement to end the eight-month industrial dispute.
A meeting this morning (Wednesday) between Essex officials and the Service Management Board failed to reach agreement on issues relating to the context in which the agreement was due to be signed.
Chief Fire Officer David Johnson and his team wanted to insert a new paragraph into the agreement – taken from the FBU’s own circular to its members – saying that while all parties were happy to sign up to the principles of the agreement, both recognised the uncertainty of ECFRS’ current economic position and were signing within this context.
The management team said it was ‘frustrated and disappointed’ that no agreement was reached.
“We have done all we can to explain to our employees and their representative bodies that while we are happy to sign this agreement it can’t be counted on as a union success in securing jobs, shifts and stations when none of us is aware of how the Government spending review will affect budgets,” said CFO Johnson.
“We were concerned that the FBU has been circulating literature heralding its success on behalf of its members in securing cast iron guarantees and pledges that just cannot hold up with the financial position as it is. It was important for the credibility of this Service that both sides officially recognised this position.
“We inserted a clause in the agreement taken from the union’s own letter. When they refused to sign with that in place, we said we would be happy for it to be deleted if union officials would sign a covering letter setting out the context in which the agreement is being made. The union said it did not have a mandate to agree and the meeting was abandoned.
“The Service Management Board has signed the agreement and is ready to meet again with union officials once they are in a position to sign up.”