Fire Brigade's Union strike ballot papers are out. A decision will come soon. The wife of a Greater Manchster fire fighter has written to The Journal about the dispute. These are her words....

STRIKE a light - you must be mad!

The Fire Brigade are hotting up for a strike. They must be mad.

I wonder if those who are making the most noise actually suffered the last strike, and have any idea of what lies ahead. Well, let me tell you from experience.

The winter of 1977 was long, hard and miserable - particularly Christmas. The fire fighters believed they had a reason to stand firm and the majority of the public supported them.

So did their wives. We walked in rallies and waved banners. We stood beside them outside the fire stations, trying to huddle around the braziers and encourage one another.

We were warmed by the kind words of passers-by and pleased at the high profile media coverage. The whole world seemed to know and care. Cheerful strangers threw money into collecting buckets, and the miners sent messages of support.

We gratefully accepted food parcels from local farmers because we were cold and hungry. We had no income - strikers cannot claim dole - and our staple diet was potato and cabbage. Eat your greens took on a whole new meaning!

As the weeks wore on we began to get nervous. Those with a 'financial cushion' had no worries - the rest of us began to wonder about selling our houses. Was it nine weeks or ten before normality returned? It seemed like a lifetime.

The original fight (to break the 10% rule) was not won. Instead a pay formula was accepted that had been on offer for at least a month. The last few weeks of the strike were totally unnecessary.

This time, of course, would be very different. Where are the miners? Striking didn't save them, did it? Farmers are struggling with their own problems. And a large percentage of the public doesn't even have a job.

Why should they support a strike anyway? What is it really about?

The Union is suggesting that all sorts of things are under threat - but shouldn't the vote be about the issue in hand? The rest is speculation. Or are the Brigade irrevocably conditioned to believe that there is no smoke without fire?

And, if the hotheads get their way, who will dare fight it? How can anyone work effectively afterwards if they don't join in?

So they will intimidate one another into solidarity. A form of mutual bullying sparked off and fanned by a union trying to justify its existence.

And eventually they will be starved back to work, under who knows what conditions?

Of course wives are not allowed to speak out at the meetings. They have to sit at home and worry about paying bills, or whether the house will be re-possessed if the strike drags on indefinitely. It looks like being another long, miserable winter.

Well this year I will not be on the picket lines. I will be busy flogging all our worldly goods in order to fend off the bailiffs.

Oh yes and I'll be hunting for that book - 100 Great Things to do with Cabbage.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.