Richard Hawley
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Support your firefighters
http://www.richardhawleyforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=31509
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Author:  helenwatson [ Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:27 am ]
Post subject:  Support your firefighters

Brilliantly put by a firefighter friend on Facebook. I would like to see some of the bloated dross in parliament stay fit enough to carry a person out of a burning building when they're 60.

"£300 pounds is the amount I currently pay into my Fire Service pension each month, I have been paying into my pension for 12 years since joining the service aged 19. Under my current scheme I am able to retire and recieve a full pension aged 50 having completed just over 30 years service. Alternatively I could remain at work until I am aged 55 if I wish.

The Government intend to change our pension, having to work until 60 to recieve a full pension. We will have to pay more each month, work 10 years longer but ultimately recieve less. If I am unable to work until 60 due to injury or being unable to carry out the role of a firefighter I face dismissal losing some of my pension entitlement.

The fitness standards set by the government, for a firefighter aged 50-60 years, have been proven by independent studies as being unrealistic for the majority of people to meet at that age.

As a member of the Fire Brigades Union I will commence industrial action tomorrow, Wednesday 25th September, between the hours of 1200-1600.

We as a union do not want to go on strike and do so with very heavy hearts. Unfortunately 2 years of negotiations have concluded with the government continuing to force unreasonable and unrealistic conditions for our pensions.

Our pensions cost us a lot, they are financial security for our families and will allow us to afford to live when we are too old to work.

How many 60 year old men and women do you know that could carry you down a flight of stairs in hundreds of degrees of heat or could support your body weight whilst you are suspended upside down in your overturned car in a waterlogged ditch?

Yes we do have quiet periods which we fill carrying out training, fire safety, premises risk inspections and equipment maintenance. But for every one of these periods there is a protracted factory fire requiring a technical level of fire fighting, or a time critical extrication of a person trapped in a road traffic collision.

I love my job as a firefighter and to be able to help others during their time of greatest need gives me great satisfaction.

I appreciate that the economy has slumped and many are struggling financially, all we ask is that the government continues to allow firefighters a fair and reasonable pension that we are owed.

Please support your Firefighters during our time of need."

They are on strike today, from 12-4pm. Pop along and show them you don't believe the hype. x

Author:  Shambolic Charm [ Wed Sep 25, 2013 11:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

Agreed, this Tory shower would all feel they were worth a lot more if they were being rescued from a fire.

Author:  maggie [ Wed Sep 25, 2013 12:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

I'd feel pretty good if I'd set it.

Author:  efsb [ Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 50079.html

Author:  loftyeric2 [ Fri Jan 10, 2014 4:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

Of all the jobs there are out there, fire & rescue should surely be top of the list for receiving right & proper recompense. Unconditionally ..>

Author:  Shambolic Charm [ Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

In neoliberal economics saving lives doesn't matter. If it don't make money it has no value. :cry:

Author:  Longpigsdad [ Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

It is easy to get emotional about these matters as Firemen do a highly dangerous and important job but, ultimately supporting services like the Fire Brigade is like insurance. The less likely the risk the less insurance cover you need. There must have been careful consideration going into the decision to close the Stations involved and it wouldn't have been all about costs although, I doubt many on this Forum will see that.

Stepping back from the individuals and historic buildings concerned we should acknowledge the world is changing and not everything (unfortunately) stays the same.

Author:  Shambolic Charm [ Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

The world is changing because neo-liberal economics places profit before people. We are in the middle of a revolution, a corporate revolution. Democracy is creaking under the weight of corporate pressure.



http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/what-is-wage-repression-explained.html



http://www.tni.org/infographic/planet-earth-corporate-world

Author:  loftyeric2 [ Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

Saw the Fire service in action personally, literally a few hours ago, when I stumbled upon someone else's head on collision. They arrived within minutes, despite the berk who called them not knowing what road he was on, ahem :oops: ...... and saw them work calmly & professionally for over an hour to extricate two seriously trapped people. Doesn't half make you think ..>

Author:  loftyeric2 [ Sun Jun 29, 2014 6:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

Oh yes, and if it turns out to be correct, what we heard the officers saying regarding the other driver, who was walking wounded, I hope they throw the book at him. I think you get the picture. :thumbdown:

Author:  helenwatson [ Mon Jun 30, 2014 11:32 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

It's all very well for people to go on about cost, economics and changing times but, like you, if you ever need them, you'll think they're worth every penny. Having had cause to rely on them to care for someone close to me, I can truly say that kind of service is priceless. x

Author:  Richard Hawley [ Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

Longpigsdad wrote:
It is easy to get emotional about these matters as Firemen do a highly dangerous and important job but, ultimately supporting services like the Fire Brigade is like insurance. The less likely the risk the less insurance cover you need. There must have been careful consideration going into the decision to close the Stations involved and it wouldn't have been all about costs although, I doubt many on this Forum will see that.

Stepping back from the individuals and historic buildings concerned we should acknowledge the world is changing and not everything (unfortunately) stays the same.



So can you be quoted on this if,god forbid,your house is on fire and your screaming for help on the roof?

Author:  Longpigsdad [ Tue Jul 01, 2014 10:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

Richard Hawley wrote:
Longpigsdad wrote:
It is easy to get emotional about these matters as Firemen do a highly dangerous and important job but, ultimately supporting services like the Fire Brigade is like insurance. The less likely the risk the less insurance cover you need. There must have been careful consideration going into the decision to close the Stations involved and it wouldn't have been all about costs although, I doubt many on this Forum will see that.

Stepping back from the individuals and historic buildings concerned we should acknowledge the world is changing and not everything (unfortunately) stays the same.



So can you be quoted on this if,god forbid,your house is on fire and your screaming for help on the roof?


I have been caught in a house fire, at 3.00 am in the morning actually. The brigade did a sterling job but that doesn't alter the fact that like all services they are a cost and better management of resources is called for in these difficult times. Risk Vs. Cost must always be a factor.

Author:  exapno mapcase [ Tue Jul 01, 2014 10:42 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

It's a questuon of priorities. I don't see the royal family cutting back on costs to the public. The cost of cobstant uncertainty in our public servicees is ridiculous. Emergency services are just that and we.pay more for emergencies and it's worth it.

Author:  helenwatson [ Tue Jul 01, 2014 1:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Support your firefighters

It's not about cost, it's about value. Lots of things cost money, it's what you think they're worth that matters. Personally, I don't mind paying over the odds for public services, for systems you might never need but are priceless when you do. I do mind spending money on war, royalty, expensive government computer failures, reorganisations of the NHS that just hand millions of pounds of taxpayers money to the private sector... I just could go on and on. It's a difference of opinion. It's the difference between people who would pay for things that benefits the whole of society and people who believe in a more market-led, atomised view of the world.

You know, when I was growing up, I always thought society was on a never-ending progression, that things were better for me than for my parents and grandparents, and things would be even better for my kids and my grandkids. Well, that's just not true any more. Many of the decisions to create things that would good for society – the welfare state, the NHS, public services that did not involve you having money to access them, education, libraries, culture, infrastructure – are now deemed to be too expensive, to be linked to the market not to government and its ability to prioritise spending for the common good, to decide what we think is right and good and stump up for it. As a result, our children are on short-term contracts, pay fees for their education, will work til they are in their seventies and face healthcare that they'll have to pay for. They are fatter, unhappier, more insecure, and have dwindling life changes and expectancy. It's about priorities, costs vs value, what you believe in, what you desire, what you are prepared to fight for. That's it. x

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