Retained firefighters suspend industrial action
Michael Bolton
Strike action by retained firefighters is being suspended from midday.
It follows around 12 hours of talks between the union SIPTU and the Local Government Management Agency at the Workplace Relations Commission.
The discussions, around pay and issues related to recruitment and retention of on-call firefighters, ended overnight.
About 2,000 retained firefighters around the country are involved in the dispute.
The workers are technically part-time and are permitted to hold other jobs. In many cases, however, they are on call 24/7, except for when they are on annual leave. Retained firefighters are paid between €8,000 and €12,000 and then on the basis of attendance for training or call-outs.
Under the terms of their contracts, retained firefighters have to live within 2km of their station and within a five-minute response time, which means they have to work within a five-minute travel time to the fire station.
SIPTU Divisional Organiser Karen O'Loughlin provided an update for members.
"We have made progress on the guaranteed side, the guaranteed paid side, and we have managed to get some more value into the system for the first phase of this campaign.
"So on that basis, the WRC is going to write up the document, we will have it in a few days because it's going to be a complex document.
"As well as dealing with core pay, the overall proposals provided more value for fire fighters and made adjustments for new recruits to assist with the recruitment problem. Under the terms, new recruits would now enter the service with guaranteed minimum earnings of over €18,000 and would move to the increments faster than is currently the case. In addition, the guaranteed earnings for fire fighters with more than 8 years of service would be over €21,500.
"If the deal is agreed, station officers will have secure minimum earnings of between €27,400 and €31,730. Other relevant conditions in respect to the filling of promotional positions and the hiring of 400 new recruits remain intact, as does the reduction of a requirement to be available from 48 weeks to 24 weeks with an option to be available more frequently on a voluntary basis.
"This is a good first step in our campaign to rebuild the Retained Fire Service and, if this proposal is acceptable to our members, we will move to the second phase of the campaign. This will take place at the public service talks where the minister, Darragh O'Brien, will be tasked with continuing to build the retainer.
"The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) and SIPTU would then set about delivering the policies agreed, such as local authority hiring practices for Retained Fire Fighters, sick pay, other types of statutory leave, retirement age and social protection."