Fire chiefs to step in during four-hour strike
Chief fire officers will work shifts in the control room directing crews to priority incidents under emergency plans to cope with a four-hour strike by firefighters.
The most senior officers at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service will be in the control room when many staff will be walking out in a row over pension reforms.
Senior staff are also being prepared to go out on engines and up ladders if necessary. West Midlands Fire Service said it also had drawn up contingency plans.
The strike is next Wednesday and has been called because the government wants to raise the age at which firefighters can claim their pension to 60 and make them pay more towards their retirement.
Unions are concerned that older firefighters will not be able to meet fitness standards and that there are too few other roles for them.
Staffordshire's chief fire officer Peter Dartford and his deputy Chris Ennis will be monitoring the situation from the county's control room at Pirehill in Stone.
Julian Hilditch, director of response at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We are finalising our contingency plans for next week's strike. It is likely that our plans will include the chief fire officer or deputy chief fire officer operating in fire control throughout the four-hour period, monitoring and prioritising incidents. Other senior fire officers will be used to crew appliances if necessary."
There are 1,500 members of the Fire Brigades Union in the West Midlands but it is unknown how many will take part.
The strike is the first nationwide walkout by firefighters in a decade. The union says most firefighters pay almost 13 per cent of their salary in pension contributions and have faced increases for six years in a row.
But fire minister Brandon Lewis said: "The decision to take strike action is unnecessary and avoidable. After two years of discussions, and with improved terms, the pension on offer is one of the most generous public service pensions available."
The chair of the West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority has called on Mr Lewis to accept an offer from the Fire Brigades Union to get back round the table and find a negotiated settlement.
Councillor John Edwards said "We have no local dispute with our firefighters and I understand their concerns. The Government has the responsibility to reopen talks."
