CURRENTLY, members of the Fire Brigades Union are involved in a dispute with our national employers over their proposals to radically worsen our conditions of service in order, they say, to supposedly "bring the fire service into the 21st century."

Obviously, the FBU has its point of view and the employers have theirs. During the course of the dispute, the national employers have accused the FBU of 'misleading' its members regarding the details of the proposals put forward by the employers.

In an effort to put their side of the dispute to firefighters and control staff nationally, the employers have produced two glossy colour leaflets (with a third one on the way), which have been sent to the home address of every single one of the 57,000 uniformed members of the UK fire service. However, the method chosen to distribute these leaflets will, I think, prove interesting to members of the public.

In the case of Lancashire firefighters and control staff, there are approximately 1,400 of us. The employers produce the leaflets and then 1,400 of them are sent to fire service HQ in Fulwood, where headquarters staff are given the task of placing these leaflets in individual envelopes, sealing them, putting stamps on them, addressing them and sending them to the home addresses of firefighters and control staff in Lancashire. In effect, the council tax payers of Lancashire are funding the national employers side of this dispute.

Are they aware that their hard-earned council tax is being used in this clearly political way? If the answer is 'no,' then I would urge them to ask the following questions of the chairman of the fire authority, County Councillor Bob Clark: Should council tax payers money be used in such a political way - no matter how small the amount?

Is this expenditure justified, considering that, in January this year, the fire authority effectively told the public of Lancashire that they were having to cut fire cover in Lancashire in order to cut £450,000 from this year's budget?

Being a member of the national employers side of the National Joint Council (which administers local authority fire brigades), does County Councillor Clark not himself agree that this is a flagrant abuse, not only of council tax payers' money, but also of his position as chairman of a fire authority - a body of people elected and appointed to the fire authority to ensure the effective running of a fire brigade - not the financing of the distribition of propaganda on behalf of a particular group of people?

Will the fire authority finance the distribution of the FBU's propaganda to its members? I should think not. That would be clearly wrong. The FBU should finance the distribition of its material. Shouldn't the employers' organisation?

Ask your fire authority member. Remember, this is your money, you trust these people to spend it wisely. Are they doing that for you?

TONY HARRIS, Brigade Secretary, Lancashire FBU.

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