Catherwood LibraryILR School

Just coming off an eight-day walkout over the British government’s refusal to drop its opposition to demands by firefighters for wage raises that will allow them to support their families without having to work multiple jobs (see WIT’s for Nov. 21 and 13, 2002), the Fire Brigades Union has called of its next scheduled eight-day strike. The decision was made after the government and the union agreed to talks with the national Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), and in response to allegations by the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair that the union is turning a labor dispute into a political one. While offering its decision to cancel the walkout as proof that this is a labor, not a political, dispute, the FBU made it clear that if progress is not made in the talks it will call a rescheduled eight-day walkout on December 16---the same day that a government-appointed review committee will publish a report that could have a major impact on the dispute.