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Tens of thousands of firefighters and control room staff are to be balloted on whether they want to strike over pay – just days before nurses will also begin casting their own votes.
A wave of industrial action currently sweeping the country has seen employees from numerous sectors insist their pay, or proposed wage increases, aren’t enough keep up with the rising cost of living – a situation one employment expert has described as a now ‘perfect storm’.
Barristers seeking increases to legal aid fees are already on an indefinite strike, which started this week, while some Royal Mail postal workers who are members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will stop work on Thursday and Friday.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has now announced 32,500 of its members will vote in the next few weeks on whether to launch their own campaign of industrial action.
The union said the move follows a 2% pay offer made in June, which has not been increased despite the soaring rate of inflation, and so has become an offer that represents a ‘significant real-terms pay cut’.
FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “There is huge anger among firefighters at falling pay.
“Firefighters must be paid fairly – there is absolutely no question when it comes to this.”
Firefighters, who last went on strike over pensions 10 years ago and conducted a lengthy strike over pay almost 20 years ago, are not the first group of keyworkers from the emergency services to propose strike action and join nurses in now taking a vote.
The Royal College of Nursing is encouraging hundreds of thousands of its members to say yes to industrial action when it ballot opens next week.
Nurses will begin casting their votes on September 15 and if enough staff vote in favour of a walkout it would be the first one ever by the union in England and Wales.
The RCN Council says it has increased its strike fund to £50 million in readiness – up from £35 million – to provide some financial support to members who could lose earnings during any industrial action they anticipate might take place.
The ballot has been called in response to the latest NHS pay award – with the union saying it wished to see a fully funded pay rise of 5% above inflation, to combat years of what it describes as ‘wage stagnation’ and to acknowledge the worsening cost of living crisis.
Instead it says the government offer is £1,400 for all NHS pay bands, enhanced for the top of band 6 and band 7, meaning the pay award becomes 4% and would leave an experienced nurse over £1,000 worse off in real terms.
Antonio Fletcher, head of employment law at Whitehead Monckton, said the country is currently in the midst of a ‘perfect storm’, which is generating a wave of discontent among employees who have switched from worrying about the security of their job to questioning whether the money they are being paid is enough to cover the cost of living.
He explained: “We are moving on from problems that there have been in the past, where people were scared for their jobs to issues where people are simply worried that even with carrying on working that they can’t afford to live.”
A lack of political leadership, added Mr Fletcher, has also potentially fuelled people’s worries as decisive action to tackle the cost of living crisis has remained vague – but should plans from the new prime minister begin tackling issues like soaring energy bills, under pressure workers may take some comfort.
He added: “People are seeing what would typically be considered to be very good pay increases offered, but they are not cutting the mustard in terms of where inflation is at the moment.”
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