Firefighters are "losing more than £4,000 a year" due to their pay "not tracking inflation", according to Merseyside's Fire Brigades Union (FBU) representatives.
Firefighters across the UK are expected to carry out the first nationwide strike action in 20 years following a ballot over pay. FBU members delivered a "decisive" mandate for strike action with a majority of the turnout voting in favour of the ballot which ran between December 5 and January 30.
The FBU has given the government until February 9 to come forward with an improved offer on the 5% offered in November last year. The vote on industrial action follows more than a decade of real terms pay cuts.
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Merseyside's FBU representatives appeared on a social media video on Tuesday, January 31 on the union's official Twitter account. Ian Hibbert, the brigade secretary, and Lee Hunter, brigade chair, called on their employers to "get around the negotiation table and make an offer that reflects the worth of firefighters".
Mr Hibbert said: "The national ballot of the firefighters over our recent pay offer returned yesterday. The fire brigades union balloted over 31,000 firefighters across the UK. In that ballot 88% of those voting voted to reject the 5% pay increase offer.
"This ballot comes after over a decade of austerity and falling wages for firefighters. Firefighter pay had it tracked inflation since 2010 would be 12% more than it is now. That means in a year our members are losing more than £4,000 per person."
Mr Hibbert added any assertion that firefighters repeatedly take "industrial action at a drop of a hat is simply not true". This is the first time firefighters have walked out since the long-running dispute between 2002-2003.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, said the ballot was an "absolute last resort for our members" - and responsibility for disruption lies "squarely with fire service employers and government ministers". Mr Wrack added: "Firefighters were among Britain's covid heroes who kept frontline services going during the pandemic. The prime minister has badly misjudged the public mood by imposing pay cuts on key workers.
"Our members risk their health and safety, and sometimes their lives, round the clock to keep people safe and serve their communities. However, with inflation and energy bills rocketing, they are now increasingly struggling to pay the bills or to afford the basics."
But a Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority told the ECHO it had reached "the very limits of what is affordable". The authority said it "does not agree" with how firefighter pay is negotiated "having seen firefighter and control room staff pay fall below inflation in recent years". A spokesperson for the authority added they have asked home secretary Suella Braverman and successive fire ministers to support the service, as finding the money from an already stretched budget "would have a direct impact on the response we could provide to our communities".
The spokesperson also said should strike action occur "the public should be reassured that Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service has robust resilience plans in place to ensure effective fire cover across Merseyside so any disruption will be minimal".
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