This in from the council, in their own words. Ed
Firefighters staged a two-hour strike between 6am and 8am on Monday and Tuesday mornings (14 and 15 July) and are due to strike again between 5pm and 7pm tonight (15 July).
Further periods of industrial action have been confirmed as:
- Wednesday 16 July – 6am to 8am and 5pm to 7pm.
- Thursday 17 July – 6am to 8am and 5pm and 7pm.
- Friday 18 July – 6am to 8am and 11pm to 1am (on 19 July).
- Saturday 19 July – 11am to 1pm and 11pm to 1am (on 20 July).
- Sunday 20 July – 5pm to 7pm.
- Monday 21 July – 6am to 8am and 5pm to 7pm.
During these times, fire cover will be maintained on the Island by non-FBU members who will attend life-critical incidents such as house fires or road traffic incidents. Fire control will not be affected by the strike and will be operating as normal – people should continue to dial 999 in an emergency.
Councillor Phil Jordan, Executive member for public protection, said:
“It is unfortunate that the FBU has failed to reach an agreement with the government over its ongoing dispute about pensions, sadly this has resulted in this escalation of industrial action.
“As with previous strikes, contingency arrangements are in place to provide fire and rescue services on the Island with the help of non-striking firefighters. I hope talks between the FBU and the government will continue so that this national dispute can be resolved.”
Members of the public and businesses are being asked to be extra vigilant during the periods of industrial action by carrying our simple fire safety checks in homes and business premises, for example by checking smoke alarms, taking extra care when discarding cigarettes or having barbecues.
A range of fire safety information can be found at www.iwight.com/fire.
