Firefighters draw back from further strikes
Less than a week after his threats of dwindling funds for a potential settlement were met with derision from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) (see WIT's for Jan. 29 and 30, 2003), and his threats of a forced legislative settlement were met with outrage from across the British labor movement (see WIT for Jan. 28, 2003), Britain's Deputy Prime Minister seems to have tempered his approach. Following a Monday meeting between Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, local government employers and the firefighters---that was described by the FBU as the national government's "first constructive intervention" in the negotiations---Mr. Prescott yesterday called for negotiations in which everything is opened for discussion. The FBU responded to the possibility for compromise on demands for work rule concessions and restructuring that the national government has so far treated as non-negotiable, and promises by local governments not to implement such changes unilaterally while talks were being held, with an indefinite postponement of new strikes (see WIT's for Jan. 10 and 13, 2003).