Approximately 80% of the membership of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) voted in favor of striking on September 25th if an agreement cannot be reached with local United Kingdom's governments in Westminster and Cardiff. The points in dispute are pay and pensions, which the FBU says are necessary to allow firefighters to retire before their age becomes a safety concern for their selves and the public. The current strike is scheduled to be four hours and is intended to be a ?warning shot"; this can be contrasted with the unsuccessful strikes over similar issues in 2002 ? 2003 that lasted 2 days and 8 days respectively.
See "Firefighters? strike: a smart, strategic move by the union", Gregor Gall, Guardian Unlimited (UK), September 18, 2013