Employee Relations vs Strikes

The history of strike action stretches beyond the First World War, often linked to economic fluxes and changing conditions, the question on many journalist minds and a subject many academics are likely to ask in years to come is how and why does history seem to be repeating itself?

What I mean is if you cast your minds back 25 years to the winter of 1977-78, before Thatcher, and before the Conservatives changed the role of Trade Unions. I'm referring to the first official national fire strike, the "Winter of Discontent".

There are noticeable similarities between the two incidences moreover both disputes were largely over pay, both took place during the winter months and both whilst Labour was in power. Although this essay is not really concerned with similarities it's important to explore the past history in some detail, before we can gage a real understanding of the current firefighter strikes, it's impact and a possible resolution, and question whether history really does repeat itself?

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In 1977, the Fire Brigades Unions (FBU)1 had never taken strike action; their leaders were right wing (conservative) and at that time opposed to strike over pay2. Labour was elected in 1974 on the back of the National Miners Strike, first led by Harold Wilson and then by James Callaghan. During 1977 the firefighters had no support from any left or right wing officials on the TUC general council and consequently the odds were stacked against them. However there also was an overwhelming vote for strike action. As a result of proletarian support for the strike there was a tidal wave of collections across the country in defence of the firefighters campaign. The right wing officials of the FBU and the TUC soon secured a return to work for the firefighters3-4.

From this it's clear that the role of the government is arguably one of great influence and this is supported by Blyton and Turnball (1998)5 who stated "The influence of the modern state permeates every aspect of people's working and non-working lives", and I'd suggest that this remains to be the case today as we explore this issue in more depth. The question is however what leads to government intervention in disputes, particularly in publicly funded organisations where the state is supposed to have control? Gospel and Palmer (1993)6 suggest that government intervention depends on 3 factors; efficiency of the market, individuals in the dispute and the bargaining power of each party. In the late 70's the economy was unstable and union power was falling, but these conditions are not apparent today and asks how did the firefighter dispute arise in the first place?

The UK's recent strike pattern can be divided into three broad periods (Salamon)7. The 1950's and 1960's, largely associated with the organisation not the industry and more often than not referred to as the "shop floor revolt". The second period was during the 1970's, characterised largely by increased government intervention, this period is known as "formal challenge" where disputes were more widespread; often with a political element. The most recent period was during the 1980's and 1990's; associated with significant changes in the economic and political environment, decline in manufacturing, privatisation of public sector industries, during which unemployment was high and union membership declining.

Now a new century, new labour government, to answer the above question, in light of recent public sector strikes it would seem that it has become fashionable to strike once again.

Firefighters striking today believe that they are not getting the wages they deserve, and whilst pay is linked to number of years of service it fails to account for geographic discrepancies8-12. It should also be noted that the strikes today are not just over pay13. This is probably because Labour has admitted that a review of the pay system is needed and instead argues that unless the firefighters agree to modernisation, a pay rise of no more than 4% will be awarded. It's not been a simple process and this is evident in the fact that this dispute is far from resolved and it is likely that the strikes will continue into the New Year14.

From my own analysis it is clear that the government appear to be deepening the dispute by not being sympathetic with firefighters, calling them "criminals and greedy"15. On the other hand the FBU is guilty, as they are not making any attempt to be reasonable and seem to disregard any proposals the government suggests. For instance in order to address the number of ethnic minorities and women in the fire service the government is urging the fire service to recruit and encourage larger numbers, but the FBU argue that this will mean building separate showers and other facilities13. There are other issues to do with training and flexible working that the FBU are simply ignoring and from this it is clear that without some kind of third party intervention no resolution will be found.

This is because Labour clearly believes that a strike is unreasonable and much of what the FBU is demanding is unobtainable19-20. Whilst the conservatives feel that labour is all talk and no action, and blame John Prescott for failing to set up an early pay and conditions review, also recognise that the firefighters should be realistic and accept the offer made by the employers as an interim measure16-18. The only political party that are actively supporting the firefighters is the Socialist Party and suggest that the reason why this issue is so prominent is because of Blair's apparent war on the public services (hence all of the recent strike activity)3. The Employers feel that whilst there is a case for improving firefighters pay, the only way the FBU will secure this is through the continual improvement and modernisation of the fire service. No party is showing signs of debility; without some kind of intervention this dispute has the potential to become extremely protracted and in that respect mirrors the formal challenge period identified by Salamon7 and leads to the conclusion that history is in fact repeating itself.

Even the position paper conducted by Sir George Bain, published on the 11th of November has had little effect. It considered the changing role and responsibilities of the fire service. Including pay levels, conditions of service, and the mechanism for future pay negotiations. In other words, recommends a pay increase of 11% over the next two years subject to essential and overdue modernisation, based on the premise that no such strike action will be taken again21. But in the middle of December, the dispute is still unresolved the four-stand approach suggested has had little effect.

This led to the involvement of Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)22, with the objective to address the current positions of the parties and to explore the means and mechanisms for a possible way forward. So far ACAS has managed to postpone the intended strike that was due to take place from the 16th for 8 days in order to allow talks and negotiations between the parties to continue23. The trouble is disputes and strikes usually arise as a result of 1 of 3 factors identified by Knowles (Salamon, p428)7: Basic issues (wages and hours of work) solidarity issues (recognition) and frictional issues (working arrangements). Arguably the firefighters are arguing for basic issues and the government is seeking frictional improvements, and this is why no one is really clear who instigated the strikes in the first place. Hugo Young24 believes the actions of the FBU represent a political attempt to re-establish trade union power, and in that respect it can be suggested that the FBU is seeking solidarity. The strike has evolved, it's no longer about pay, it's a political and economical battle, it's about the power as well. Consequently I would argue that the origins of this strike go all the way back to when Blair was first in power, as this is the first labour government where unions do not have power and trade unions have virtually been written out, and this in itself represents a fairly unassailable explanation as to how and why the strikes are seemingly insurmountable.

So it still isn't clear when or how the firefighter dispute will be resolved. What is abundantly clear though is Labour is facing increasing pressure from workers who are fed up with poverty pay. This combined with the increase in cost of living has led to a greater willingness for workers to take action. Labour has attacked firefighters for being part of what Blair called the "comfortably off the two thirds of society"25, whose wage demands would be at the detriments of the other third. This is not 1978 when Labour had nothing like the strength to fend off a winter of discontent and it's certainly not 1984, when Thatcher engineered her confrontation with Arthur Scargill. I'd suggest the only politics are coming from the FBU. They are the ones making excessive claims, using the moral work of firefighters as means to insert enough pressure to get noticed by the public and press. Some sources have quoted Gilchrist as being the new Scargill but whether this dispute really escalates to that level of potency and animosity still remains to be seen26. The simple fact is that the firefighters are no more valuable than any other public service workers and the only way this issue will be resolved is by coming up with a solution that everyone will be happy with. One way to achieve is by bringing forward the publication of the Bain report to allow both sides to negotiate an end to the dispute, as it may ensure that any talks are not needlessly disrupted by the final publication, as well as allowing all the facts to be on the table during negotiations. The FBU has a choice either accept the 4% or opt for the 16% rise which includes the blue print for the much needed modernisation as proposed by the Bain review, basically it's in the hands of the FBU and if the opinions given above are anything to go by, these strikes could continue well into the new year.

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