All members up to and including Watch Manager / Watch Manager (Control) are called to refuse to work Pre-arranged Overtime
The FBU have had some enquiries regarding what is and what is not covered by the current industrial action that FBU members are being called to take.
To clarify this for those still unsure, the action called for is to refuse to work anything that you work over and above your 42 hours contracted duties. This includes Training Courses / CFS Activities / MIRG / Watch Manager meetings etc, if it involves you working over and above your normal duty days. It also includes all weekend or night working if you are conditioned to a 9 day fortnight / day duty system.
PRE-ARRANGED OVERTIME IS VOLUNTARY AND YOU CANNOT BE FORCED BY MANAGEMENT TO WORK IT OR DISCIPLINED FOR REFUSING TO WORK ITIf FBU members who are taking part in the industrial action are aware that an activity will then not be covered, they should inform their manager of that situation. It is the responsibility of management to make alternative arrangements to cover that activity, not yours.
For Clarification – Currently this action does not include detached duty travel time allowance but may do in the future - if YOU, the FBU members decide that is what you want.

The FBU are committed in resolving this trade dispute as quickly as possible and have today attended a meeting where further discussions took place regarding the Transfer Policy. The FBU were informed that management has now sent a revised document back to their side of the Joint Secretaries that has yet to be presented to the FBU for their consideration. Although this issue is still not resolved, it is important you know that there are still ongoing discussions to try to resolve this trade dispute and neither side is refusing to explore all avenues to find an agreeable solution.

REMEMBER!

IF THERE ARE ANY SHORTFALLS OF OPERATIONAL COVER DURING THIS INDUSTRIAL ACTION – IT IS NOT YOURS OR THE FBU’S FAULT – IT IS THE MANAGEMENT OF HFRS FOR NOT HAVING SUFFICENT FRONTLINE OPERATIONAL FIREFIGHTERS TO COVER WHAT THEY DEEM IS REQUIRED IN THEIR ESTABLISHMENT LEVELS.

And finally don’t forget

UNITY IS STRENGTH

Your Branch will soon be having a meeting. Please make every effort to attend to get the latest up to date information on the trade dispute.

All members up to and including Watch Manager / Watch Manager (Control) are called to refuse to work Pre-arranged Overtime
The Industrial action called for by the General Secretary of the FBU starts at 09.00 hours today. It is vitally important that all FBU members stick together to fight this ongoing trade dispute. The action FBU members are being called to take is the refusal to work pre-arranged overtime.
PRE-ARRANGED OVERTIME IS VOLUNTARY AND YOU CANNOT BE FORCED BY MANAGEMENT TO WORK IT OR DISCIPLINED FOR REFUSING TO WORK IT
If FBU members who are taking part in the industrial action are aware that an activity will then not be covered, they should inform their manager of that situation. It is the responsibility management to make alternative arrangements to cover that activity, not yours.
This is not what the FBU wanted but were forced into it by ‘no agreement being reached’ within the timescales of the trade dispute ballot validity period. This Industrial action can be halted immediately by the management of HFRS by complying in full with the 5 points outlined within the trade dispute that was lodged with the Fire Authority.
Pre-arranged overtime includes everything that you get paid for, after working, over and above your contracted average 42 hours a week (with the exception detached duty travel time allowance).
For Clarification – at this moment in time, this action does not include detached duty allowance (this is travel time paid at overtime rates) but may do in the future - if YOU, the FBU members decide that is what you want.
The FBU are committed in resolving this trade dispute as quickly as possible and are trying to arrange further meetings with management to discuss the outstanding issues. The FBU have submitted further draft policies to the management in order to try to break the deadlock over the Transfer Policy.
IF THERE ARE ANY SHORTFALLS OF OPERATIONAL COVER DURING THIS INDUSTRIAL ACTION – IT IS NOT YOURS OR THE FBU’S FAULT – IT IS THE MANAGEMENT OF HFRS’S FOR NOT HAVING SUFFICENT FRONTLINE OPERATIONAL FIREFIGHTERS TO COVER WHAT IS REQUIRED.
There was a pre-arranged overtime ban in the UK Fire Service for decades prior to the 2003 agreement – so why wasn’t there operational shortfalls week after week then? Why weren’t the FBU and its members getting the same disgraceful comments in the press over that period saying that they were ‘endangering lives’ by having a Pre-arranged overtime ban? – The reason why, was that managers could not mask firefighter vacancy management by the use of pre-arranged overtime then, as they can do now and they were then answerable to the HMI.
IF THE FBU’S PRE-ARRANGED OVERTIME BAN MEANS OPERATIONAL SHORTFALLS - THEN THAT CLEARLY MEANS THERE IS NOT ENOUGH FRONT LINE FIREFIGHTERS ON FIRE STATIONS
The Grey Book states;
‘That pre-arranged overtime will not be used to make up any planned shortfalls in the overall staffing levels set out in the Fire & Rescue Authority’s Integrated Risk Management Plan.’ Station personnel establishment levels include a buffer for sickness / courses etc (and sickness levels are dropping year on year we are told) so if there are any shortages it is because of the management of watch vacancies NOT because of a pre-arranged overtime ban.
Your Branch will soon be having a meeting. Please make every effort to attend to get the latest up to date information on the trade dispute.
Remember
UNITY IS STRENGTH

You will have recently received a letter from the Chief Fire Officer outlining his view of the current situation regarding the trade dispute. The FBU feel it is therefore incumbent to respond to some of the points raised and to clarify the situation from the FBU’s side of the dispute.
The Chief Fire Officer quite rightly points out that at a meeting on the 22nd April broad agreement was reached in principal on how the dispute could be resolved, however it also required further work to be carried out. This further work has not been completed to the satisfaction of the FBU and therefore the trade dispute remains unresolved.
To allow for the Joint Secretary process, the FBU had, by mutual agreement, extended the period of their ballot validity to the maximum permitted under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act and as such had to give notice of intended industrial action to the Fire Authority otherwise it would have meant the further expense and time of running another trade dispute ballot. The FBU are fully committed to resolving this trade dispute via negotiations but unfortunately are bound by these statutory timescales.
To briefly outline the current FBU position of the 5 issues contained within the trade dispute please see the attached letter from Ian Murray (referred to in the CFO’s letter) that was sent to the Secretary of the Fire Authority on the 9th June 2009.
Also contained within the letter from the CFO are some claims that the FBU strongly refute.
CPD Payments
HFRS continually refused the FBU’s requests to have this issue referred to the Joint Secretaries. In the FBU’s opinion that would be the obvious arena to discuss the differences of opinion on the national application process, as it was in fact the Joint Secretaries who agreed the CPD Payment Scheme. HFRS maintained that because there were some HFRS cases lodged with an Employment Tribunal (ET) regarding the non- payment of CPD, then they were unwilling to discuss it until after the ET. This was after the FBU’s legal advisors stated that both sides could still try to resolve this issue prior to the ET. At the meeting on the 22nd April 2009 the FBU agreed that if this was the only outstanding issue of the trade dispute they would agree to await the outcome of the ET and then progress the matter afterwards. As has now become apparent the CPD issue is not the only outstanding issue of the trade dispute.
Transfer Policy
At the meeting of the Joint Secretaries in London the FBU did not produce a Transfer Policy that was discriminatory to RDS firefighters, neither is the latest version the FBU has just resubmitted in an effort to try to break the deadlock on the Transfer Policy issue. It is the FBU who have made substantial movement on this area but unfortunately this movement is not being reciprocated by the management of HFRS. It is the FBU who for many years have been trying to introduce an open transfer policy for RDS firefighters to transfer over to the WDS but have been repeatedly blocked by the management of HFRS. It was only after the HFRS’s WDS vacancies were in a dire mess that HFRS decided to allow this option to be progressed to resolve their problems.
Community Fire Technicians (Secondary Contracts)
The CFO states in his letter ‘that the FBU did not feel they were in a position to discuss the matter of secondary contracts therefore the matter was deferred’
This is not accurate, it was decided at the meeting of the Joint Secretaries in London that the Transfer Policy would be the first item on the agenda. These discussions went on for the entire day and it was decided by the Joint Secretaries that the issue of secondary contracts would be discussed at another meeting to be arranged, as it was felt there would not be enough time on this day as it was now past 18.30 hours.
The FBU’s Joint Secretary Andy Dark was asked to clarify the discussions that led to the secondary contracts issue being deferred and he responded;
‘Frankly, I am at a loss to understand the comments made within the HFRS bulletin to personnel. There was no reluctance at all, let alone refusal from the HFBU side to discuss the Secondary Contracts issue, it was simply that all of the allotted time was taken up with discussing the Transfer Policy’.
To see Andy Dark’s response in full please see the attached letter below.
In response to the Chief Fire Officer stating he was disturbed at who the FBU chose to exclude from the ballot, the FBU would like to clarify that following legal advice on the ‘intended action members would be called to take’ it was more a case of the FBU being disappointed that they were limited to who they could ballot following this advice and not deciding to exclude anyone. What should be more concerning for the CFO is the number of RDS personnel who expressed their disappointment in not being able to take some form of industrial action also to show their discontent with the way HFRS is treating them.
As already stated the FBU are committed to resolving this trade dispute but were ultimately forced into calling for industrial action to be taken by the issues not being resolved within the timescales that are laid down. We will continue to meet with the management of HFRS to try to resolve our differences; however these issues could not just be allowed to be carry on indefinitely. These are your conditions of service that the FBU are defending and in order for us to do this we must now all stick together and all support the action being called to take.
From 09.00 hours on the 17th June 2009 there will be a pre-arranged overtime ban. This will include all paid activities (with the exception detachment payments) over and above your normal contracted hours of work.
For clarification detached duties (at this moment in time) do not form part of the action called for, as this is not classed as pre-arranged overtime but travel time paid at overtime rates.
Please attend your soon to be arranged Branch meeting to get the latest up to date news.
SUPPORT THE INDUSTRIAL ACTION CALLED FOR – THIS IS YOUR UNION
If any individual is challenged or put under pressure to go against this lawful industrial action being called to take, please get in touch with a Brigade Official immediately
UNITY IS STRENGTH – WE CAN ONLY DEFEND YOUR CONDITIONS OF SERVICE WITH YOUR SUPPORT.

Please see the letter below clarifying the Humberside FBU position regarding the Secondary Contract issue and that the FBU were prepared to talk about this issue but the alloted time with the Joint Secretaries had run out. It was not a case of ‘the FBU felt they could not discuss this issue of secondary contracts’- as was reported. It was a joint decision of the Joint Secretaries, not the FBU, to call a halt to the proceedings as it was late in the day.

15 June 2009
Dear Ian

Thank you for your recent correspondence concerning the Humberside FRS Press Release and correspondence to all personnel by the HFRS management. I won’t comment on all the points but will pick up on the main issues.

It is disappointing that the HFRS put out the misleading and unhelpful press release. This is contrary to the understanding between the National Joint Secretaries. I further understand that the CFO has indicated that he did it because of his belief that you had been speaking to the press, which was not the case. With a headquarters building full of staff, I would have thought he could have got one of them to pick up the telephone to ask you! It seems, at best, a weak excuse to me.

Frankly, I am at a loss to understand the comments made within the HFRS bulletin to personnel. There was no reluctance at all, let alone refusal from the HFBU side to discuss the Secondary Contracts issue, it was simply that all of the allotted time was taken up with discussing the Transfer Policy.

Similarly, I am astonished that HFRS are suggesting that the HFBU position was, or is, in anyway discriminatory against RDS personnel/members. The HFBU’s position was quite clear. The HFBU was, and is, seeking a policy which is fair to all firefighters; which ensures that as part of its introduction, the desires of those on the existing transfer list are respected; and that the system ensures that all members, RDS or wholetime are able to access courses and thereby points on an equal footing in such a way as to avoid favouritism toward particular individuals by the HFRS, that is intended or otherwise.
It is unfortunate that this episode has occurred, but I hope that the contents of this letter will go some way towards allaying any concerns that members may have as a result of the inaccurate comments made in the HFRS bulletin. In closing, I can only suggest that you speak to senior management representatives to inform them that their current approach does not lend itself to making the resolution of the current dispute any easier.

Yours fraternally,

ANDY DARK
Assistant General Secretary

Mr. Robin Graham
Secretary to the Humberside Fire & Rescue Authority
Humberside Fire & Rescue Service
Service H.Q. Summergroves Way
Kingston upon Hull
HU4 7BB 9th June 2009

Dear Robin,

Humberside FRA - FBU Trade Dispute

It has been brought to my attention that you contacted the employer’s secretary of the NJC yesterday regarding a letter received from the FBU Secretary Matt Wrack outlining concerns that the letter referred to the original trade dispute notification from the FBU and in particular, that you are of the opinion that three out of the five issues have now been resolved. Subsequently your Joint Secretary has sought clarification with our side of the joint secretary’s.

The FBU would like to point out that we are pleased progress has been made on some of issues and others are still the subject of ongoing discussions at joint secretary level, however, there are still issues that remain unresolved and as such the trade dispute lodged with the Fire Authority remains unresolved. With this mind and in order to comply with the statutory requirements following the agreement made between the FBU and the Fire Authority pursuant to section 234(1)(b) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act, the FBU were informing you in the letter from Matt Wrack yesterday, that it is still our intention to give notice of intended industrial action within the legally required timescales.

I have been requested to clarify to you Humberside FBU’s position in relationship to the five issues raised within the trade dispute, given that since we last formally met there has been discussions at NJC level on some of the issues.

1. Confirmation that all vacancies have been filled and that a comprehensive recruitment strategy will now be delivered to include transfers from other Authorities and to ensure that there is adequate advance planning so that the unacceptable levels of vacancies that arose in 2008 will not be repeated.
Progress on this is sufficient to form the basis of an overall agreement albeit that progress was made by the introduction of an imposed policy to address these vacancies

2 The immediate withdrawal of the service transfer policy and no reintroduction of such a policy until it has been agreed in full with FBU.This issue, although being the ongoing subject of discussions at joint secretary level is still unresolved.

3 The immediate withdrawal of the Community Fire Technician posts and agreement that members conducting such duties on rota days or otherwise in addition to their contractual hours of duty shall be paid overtime in accordance with the Grey Book. This issue, although agreed to be the subject of discussion at joint secretary level, is still unresolved as to date these discussions have not taken place

4 The immediate payment of CPD to all applicants refused in 2008 and, pending agreement of a new procedure with FBU Humberside, payment of CPD to all personnel permitted to apply as provided by the National AgreementThis matter is the subject of an Employment Tribunal (ET) due to take place on the 15th June. The FBU agreed that in certain circumstances they would be willing to await the outcome of the ET in order to then decide what their next steps would be. However as those circumstances do not arise, this is not relevant and FBU members are now submitting grievances for the 2009 / 2010 CPD Payments that have been refused in a process that is outside of the nationally agreed application process. That being the case this matter is still unresolved.

5 Acceptance that the Fire Authority wrongly refused the requests to refer the CPD and transfer policy disputes to the National Joint Secretaries and wrongly proceeded without agreement on vacancies and on the Community Fire Technician posts. An undertaking to agree all requests for referral to Joint Secretaries until agreement has been reached with FBU Humberside on a new Industrial Relations Protocol to resolve collective disputes.
The issues raised above in Para 5, as contained within the trade dispute notification letter, refer to HFRS not adhering to the nationally agreed Consultation and Negotiation Processes / Protocols. It is a step in the right direction that HFRS has agreed to refer two of the issues (Transfer Policy & Community Fire Technicians) raised to the National Joint Secretaries. But the specific request to take the issue of CPD payments to the joint secretary’s was declined by HFRS. However as is clearly outlined and requested within the trade dispute letter, the FBU have not received the undertaking required and have not agreed that all requests for referral to the joint secretaries will be agreed until a new locally agreed IR Protocol has been agreed with the FBU. Therefore the issue of the Consultation & Negotiation processes / Protocols is still unresolved.

Overall it is clear that in only one issue out of the five raised has sufficient progress been made to form the basis of an overall agreement to resolve the trade dispute. We welcome the ongoing discussions to try to resolve the other four issues but it would appear that at present on some of these, there is no movement at all from HFRS. In particular the Transfer Policy, this follows indications that the FBU may be prepared to recommend substantial movement including alternative proposals being put forward that is not being reciprocated by HFRS.

I would remind you that the General Secretary made it clear in his correspondence that until all five assurances outlined are confirmed, a trade dispute exists between the FBU members in Humberside and the Authority. Whilst some good progress has been made, there remains much to be done before the dispute can be resolved and we are keen that discussions proceed urgently in order to reach an agreement to avoid the need for industrial action.

I hope that this letter has clarified the position from Humberside FBU side in relationship to the ongoing trade dispute.

Regards

Ian

Ian Murray
Regional Secretary
Assistant Brigade Secretary
Humberside FBU

After many meetings with HFRS management and then ultimately the involvement of the National Joint Secretaries to try to resolve the ongoing issues between the FBU and Humberside Fire & Rescue Service we are disappointed to report that as of yet the trade dispute lodged with the Fire Authority remains unresolved.
Although discussions at Joint Secretary level are still ongoing regarding the Transfer Policy and the Community Fire Technician posts, these along with other issues contained within the Trade Dispute have not been resolved within the timescales that we are bound by in order to comply with section 234(1) (b) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act, which stipulates the period that industrial action must take place within following a ballot of trade union members. The FBU sought and had this period extended to the maximum permissible in order to attempt to find a resolution to the trade dispute. Some cynics may be of the opinion that this was the intention of some in order for the trade dispute ballot to expire its validity.
After considering all of these factors, the FBU have now been left with no choice but to give the Fire Authority notice of intended Industrial action. The action FBU members are being called to take by the General Secretary is a Pre-arranged overtime ban.
During the ongoing discussions at the Joint Secretaries the FBU are of the opinion that they have moved their position considerably in attempts to reach an agreed position, in particular, in relationship to the Transfer Policy but this movement does not appear to be being reciprocated.
The third party talks with the Joint Secretaries regarding ‘Community Fire Technicians’ have not even commenced yet!
Members are still aggrieved about not receiving CPD for 2008 and although these members are awaiting an Employment Tribunal due to take place regarding this matter, HFRS have not addressed any of the issues in relationship to their application process and we are now having a recurrence of similar grievances for 2009.
One issue that has been resolved is the question of vacancies within HFRS, albeit by the imposition of a transfer Policy.
Looking at the bigger picture the FBU are still of the opinion that industrial relations within HFRS are still in a very bad state. Locally the FBU still have no confidence that the nationally agreed processes for consultation and negotiation will be complied with. The management have made it very public that they no longer wish to engage with the FBU how they did previously; they see the FBU as slowing down their agenda for change. The FBU are still fully committed to reaching agreement on all issues involved in our latest dispute, BUT WILL NOT DO THIS AT THE EXPENSE OF MEMBERS’ CONDITIONS OF SERVICE and the potential worsening of their personal lives.
Members should be fully aware that this is YOUR campaign and the action we have been forced to take is because of HFRS management steamrolling through policies that will have adverse effects on YOUR WORK and YOUR CONDITIONS.
If the FBU are to be able to best represent you and protect your conditions of service, then we must be allowed to consult and negotiate using the laid down rules of engagement that have been agreed nationally. This is why we must all stand together as a union and ensure HFRS management understand their workforce’s feelings.
We WILL NOT accept the IMPOSITION of policies
We WILL NOT accept the WORSENING of conditions
We WILL NOT be UNDERVALUED
With the ‘Shift System’ review looming on the horizon we must ensure the FBU still have a full voice in all talks that will affect you!
Members will shortly receive a circular from the General Secretary outlining the action you are being called to take. It is imperative that we all adhere to this call for action in order to resolve this trade dispute as quickly as possible.
OUR UNITY IS OUR STRENGTH
ATTEND YOUR SOON TO BE ARRANGED BRANCH MEETING