IN The Journal (October 7) a letter was published from a group of uniformed fire service employees regarding the Fire Brigades Union's ballot for strike action in Greater Manchester Fire Service.

I am very pleased that developments nationally, which I supported, have enabled local negotiations with the FBU over our divisional restructuring proposals to be resumed, which has in turn resulted in the strike ballot being suspended.

Whilst matters have, therefore, obviously moved on since the letter was published, it did refer to a number of issues and I would like to take this opportunity briefly to respond.

I welcome the writers' acknowledgement of the efficiency of the Brigade. As the letter states, Greater Manchester was the first Brigade to introduce a computerised control room in 1979, and its replacement, a multi-million pound state of the art facility, came in to operation in September this year.

This is the centre piece of a continuous policy of investment in the Brigade and its infrastructure. Our record in the provision of new buildings, appliances and technology is, I believe, impressive by any standard, as is our commitment to the well-being of our employees, who enjoy excellent occupational health facilities and are provided with the best equipment available.

The Brigade has also been the recipient of national awards, such as the recently received Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents' Health and Safety at Work Award, which the Brigade has received for the second year running.

However, like all other local authorities, we have to operate within the financial constraints imposed upon us and it is only by occasionally having to make difficult decisions that we are able to maintain necessary levels of efficiency and secure our ability to maintain frontline services, and this is why we have conducted the review of the Brigade's divisional structure over which the FBU took issue.

The letter also claimed that I have been quoted as saying why should a firefighter in Mossley be paid as much as one in Manchester City Centre, and I would like to clarify this. In a radio interview with GMR on June 3 1999, the morning of the annual meeting of the Authority, I stated that local flexibility which the fire brigade employers nationally were seeking to allow would not in any way relate to pay. I made it absolutely clear that the firefighters' national pay formula would stay and firefighters' pay would not vary, for example, between Manchester, Devon and Cornwall or the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

The public esteem in which firefighters are held is fully deserved and their commitment and dedication to the job is without question. Strike action over a structural reorganisation involving no redundancies would have served only to undermine public confidence in the service and I am sure your readers will join me in welcoming the suspension of the strike ballot.

Fred Walker

Chairman

Greater Manchester Fire & Civil Defence Authority

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