Conditions 'brutal' as Laois fire fighters set for strike action

Laois fire fighters are starting serious strike action from next Tuesday, June 20, over the poor pay and conditions.

Four out of the eight Laois fire stations will shut down each day, in continued action until the Government agrees with SIPTU union's demands.  It is part of nationwide planned rolling strikes.

A local fire fighter who is a member of the Fire Service Strike Committee, says they fear what will happen locally if they cannot attend fires during the strikes.

"Nobody wants this strike, that is why we are trying to get Government to come into talks with us.

""It's hard for us if something happens in our towns. Our pager systems will be turned off, we won't get alerted except for life threatening calls.

“Other brigades in surrounding towns will have to respond to those areas where stations are closed. They will have to cover stations closed in nearby counties as well.

"If it goes into the second week, all stations will be closed except for life threatening calls. Those alerts come to our phones direct from the HSE.

In this dry weather, if the mountain goes on fire, or an empty office or house, we won't get called. But there is always that small chance someone there could be in danger," he said.

He described the problems fire fighters face which forced the union to take strike action.

"It's brutal. We can't get anyone into the service because the starting off money is so low. It's €8,500 a year for a retained fire fighter, going up to about €11,000. You get paid extra per callout but the calls aren't guaranteed to happen.

"I'm ok in that I got a mortgage before I joined but the banks don't look at the income from callouts, only the retainer," he said.

Because of staff shortages due to the low wage, any remaining staff must be on standby seven days a week, except for a few weeks of annual leave, and stay within 5km of their station at all times.

"You are married to your town," the Laois fire fighter said.

"It should be the way it is in Dublin, staying in the station for a week on, week off, on duty as a full time job," he said.

Laois should have eight crews of at least eight to 13 people per station. 

"It has deteriorated since I started a few years ago. In Abbeyleix they are down to five or six people. Portarlington lost three or four. They were replaced but they left again after a few months.

"Every time someone leaves, it costs €50,000 to train a new fire fighter. That's a lot of money after being spent, going straight out the door after a couple of months," he said.

The Laois fire service strike action committee is meeting with Laois TDs to urge them to call for action.

That meeting will take place early on Monday morning, with Minister of State Sean Fleming, Deputy Charlie Flanagan and Deputy Brian Stanley all understood to be attending.

"We have suggested amalgamating Laois stations, and working a week on, week off, based in the stations. If they up the pay and station conditions, they will get more recruits.

"This is down to the Local Government Management Agency not upping the budget. They say we are tied into a pay agreement. But they won't tell us if our retainer payment is a wage or an allowance. If it is a wage, it is under the minimum wage. If it is an allowance, it's not part of the pay agreement.

"The strikes will stay going until the Goverment comes back with something," the Laois fire fighter said.