Fire union 'talking rubbish' over staff levels, say bosses

Employers accused firefighters' leaders yesterday of talking "rubbish" and "scaring the public" about the need to maintain full staffing at night.

The attack on the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) came as employers submitted their plans for new working practices at the conciliation service Acas and warned that breaking the deadlock would not be easy.

Negotiators explained they believed the fire service should be modernised to finance a pay rise of more than 4 per cent. The employers' spokeswoman agreed with the FBU that more people were killed in house fires at night but said many died before fire engines were able to get there because the victims were asleep and the fire had taken a stronger hold before an alarm was raised.

The official said fire authorities' hands were tied by union agreements dictating full staffing levels at all times. Fewer firefighters were needed in city centres at night because office workers had gone home to the suburbs. "Greater flexibility to allocate resources would lead marginally to more lives being saved, but would certainly not cost lives as the union says."

Representatives of the union gave evidence to Acas on Wednesday, but negotiations are not expected to start until the middle of next week.

Claims in The Times that a report into pay and modernisation by Sir George Bain recommended increases of up to 40 per cent were "completely inaccurate" and "complete guesswork". The spokeswoman denied the Bain review said firefighters would have to give up second jobs for a deal worth 16 per cent over three years.

She said: "The report has not even been written yet. The figures have not come from us. It [The Times story] has been cobbled together to produce a neat little theory but it just does not add up."

A union spokesman said: "Newspaper stories like this have been so wrong in the past that we give it little credence."

Charles Nolda, executive director of the Employers' Organisation, said a deal would not be easy and would take a long time, adding: "Everyone must be patient." He said the Government provided most funding for local authorities, so it was "realistic" to expect them to influence the negotiations. "What we have to do is to come up with a solution that everybody is happy with."

David Davis, Conservative spokesman on the fire service, has written to the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, urging him to bring forward the publication of the Bain report.

In his letter, Mr Davis said: "It is in everyone's interest that you publish the Bain report as soon as possible, thus allowing all sides to use the report whilst negotiating an end to this dispute."

Thousands of trade unionists are expected to support a march and rally in central London on Saturday in support of the firefighters. The FBU suspended an eight-day strike due to begin last Friday to allow time for talks but has said that another eight-day stoppage scheduled to begin on 16 December was still "live".

* Police were called to investigate claims that the FBU general secretary, Andy Gilchrist, and his family were stalked all day yesterday by "persons unknown". Ruth Winters, the union's president, said: "No attempt to smear Andy Gilchrist's name will stop him from representing our members.

"The union wholeheartedly condemns the actions of those who seek to discredit and demonise our general secretary for representing his members." The union believes that the alleged stalkers are reporters from tabloid newspapers.