July 4, 2014 12.13 pm This story is over 116 months old

Lincolnshire firefighters join service workers in strike over pay

Strike action: Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue are to join a day of strike action alongside civil service workers in a dispute over pay, pensions and workloads on July 10.
Lincoln firefighters picketing at Lincoln South station in May 2014.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue are to join a day of strike action alongside civil service workers in a dispute over pay, pensions and workloads on July 10.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue officers will join the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) for their set strike during the hours between 10am and 7pm.

Dave Ramscar, Chief Fire Officer at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said: “Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue has plans in place to ensure that we continue to provide an emergency response within the county.

“We accept that any planned industrial action will impact on our ability to deliver business as usual, but we are confident that the implementation of our plans will enable us to continue to answer 999 calls and to respond to incidents as quickly as possible.

“We continue to remind people to take care when going about their daily business, and that there is further safety advice available on our website and on Twitter @lincsfirerescue.”

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, added: “The FBU has wanted to settle our dispute for a long time, but the government at Westminster is simply not listening.”

The firefighters’ dispute has seen multiple strikes take place throughout the country in the last year.

It is estimated that as many as two million workers across the UK will be taking strike action on July 10.

In Lincoln, civil servants, council workers and teachers will form picket lines outside their places of work.

A march by demonstrators is also set to take place from 11.30am on Brayford Wharf North, which will culminate with a rally at 12.30pm in City Square.

Branch Secretary of the Lincoln Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Nick Parker, said: “Millionaire government ministers need to be absolutely clear – end the pay freeze now or face a united fight back starting on July 10th of over a million working-class people who will not accept cuts in their living standards to pay for a crisis caused by fat-cat bankers.”