Fire Brigades Union launches Cuts Kill campaign in Westminster

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) have launched their ‘Cuts Kill’ campaign in Westminster, calling on the government to increase investment in fire and rescue services after facing over 14 years of continued austerity and cuts.

The FBU gathered outside of the Houses of Parliament on college green, with firefighters meeting Labour MPs to speak about the need to place pressure on the government to support an already struggling fire service, who state they are being asked to ‘do more with less’.

The campaign seeks to draw attention to the real world implications of cuts, as fire services struggle to save the lives of the public and firefighters amid more difficult conditions, due to pressures on staffing, alongside losses of engines, resources and in some cases fire stations across the country.

In early February, the FBU launched a ballot for strike action in Oxfordshire over continued cuts to fire services, which the union stated could lead to nationwide strike action.

READ MORE: FBU launches ballot on strike action in Oxfordshire over cuts to fire service

The launch of the cuts kill campaign follows this, with efforts to ensure that the politicians in Westminster recognise the beginning of the shift to industrial footing the FBU wishes to take, should cuts to fire and rescue services continue.

FBU general secretary Steve Wright told LabourList: “This is about our cuts kill campaign getting on industrial footing and sending the message to politicians that actually firefighters have had enough after fourteen years of austerity, losing 12000 firefighter jobs, stations closing and we’re still seeing cuts in many parts of the country.”

On the strike action ballot in Oxfordshire, Wright told LabourList that if the government scrapped current proposals that would see 42 members of the union made redundant, then the FBU would “prevent strike action immediately” and “get round the table” to have the necessary discussions.

However, should the government maintain proposals that would see firefighters lose their jobs then “the national union will look to take action on that”.

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