On Wednesday, 18th August, over 500 firemen from 14 brigades crowded into Nottingham's Old Market Square in the first of a series of demonstrat ions which are to be held throughout the North East Midlands in protest against regional differences in wage and overtime payments.
Until the passing of the Fire Brigades Act in 1938, combined Police and Fire services were operated in most parts of the country. The act made it compulsory for County Boroughs and County Councils to maintain efficient, self contained fire brigaies, and with this separation of the two services it was generally recognised that parity between police and fire brigade pay would be retained. In 1941 the fire services were taken out of the hands of local authorities, and a national Fire Service was created as a war measure under the Fire Services (Emergency Provisions) Act. Local authority control was revived in 1947.
A national rate was then agreed by the National Joint Council, comprising the Executive Committee of the F,B.U. and the various Local Authorities' Associations, and, in 1950, the principle of a £25 weighting allowance for firemen in the L.C.C. area was recognised. This £25 London allowance is the amount still recognised by the police, but the differential for firemen was suddenly pushed up to £77 in 1961 when it was quickly followed by act~ion, outside the N.J.C., by a number of local authorities, including Coventry and Birmingham, which both agreed to pay the London rates,
In Nottingham, negotiations between the F.B.U. and the Fire Brigades Committee resulted in an offer of £50 per annum. We then had the intolerable situation whereby the recommendations of the Fire Bri;‘ades Committee were turned down flat by the Finance Committee without rej:erence to the full body of the City Council. That is the position as it remains today nearly four years later. sas
There are now wide variations in pay throughout the country, contradicting the fundamental Trade Union Principle of "one rate for the job". - The £25 differential for the special conditions in London is not disputed, but the position has become farcical, not only by virtue of the 1961 award of £77 to London firemen alone, but also by the extension of the London boundaries to take in the area governed by the Greater London Council. When the G.L.C. was formed in April this year, the London Fire Brigade strength was increased overnight from 2,000 to 7,000 = out of a total national strength of 24,000. Most of this enlarged London area hag conditions no different from the rest of the country. Yet the Nottinghai/is now £77 per annum below London, Coventry and Birmingham, and £65 below the county of Surrey, which has recently made an award.
Overtime payments are equally confused, In Nottingham a 48 hour week is agreed, with no overtime. London recognises the 48 hour week, but 53 hours are actually worked, 5 of these being at overtime rates. In Derby and Derbyshire a 56 hour week is in force, for the same basic pay that Nottingham firemen receive for 48 hours, Certain stations in Nottingham operate a regular 72 hour week for a paltry extra payment of 50 shilli *Nottingham Area Chairman, F.B.U. an” member of the N. Midlands District
Committee,