Catherwood LibraryILR School

Following six hours of failed negotiations at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service with local government employers, the leaders of Britain's Fire Brigades Union yesterday announced that they will recommend that firefighters reject the employers' latest contract offer (see WIT for Feb. 5, 2003). Calling for a raise of sixteen percent over three years as opposed to the same raise over two years offered in November, the contract proposal contained no compromises on work rule changes strongly opposed by the FBU and contained language giving employers greater control over hours and deployment. FBU officers condemned the proposal as a step backwards, and contested the employers' claims that morale is falling among union members engaged in a heated battle over a new contract and intermittently on strike since mid-November (see WIT for Nov. 13, 2002).