Firefighters threaten strike over lack of consultation

UP to 2,000 of the country’s full-time firefighters may be balloted for industrial action over the failure by fire chiefs to consult with union leaders on a new industry committee.

The Government has launched a new National Fire and Emergency Committee to look at how the fire service is operated.

However, according to John Kidd, national secretary of SIPTU’s full-time Fire Fighters Committee, his members are refusing to attend the new committee because they feel it will not satisfactorily address safety concerns in the industry and secondly because they and the public are not being given enough representation on the committee.