Firefighters vote to strike over pay

Firefighters and control room staff have voted to strike over pay, the Fire Brigades Union announced.

Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) backed walkouts by 88 per cent on a huge turnout of 73 per cent after earlier rejecting a five per cent pay offer.

The union said it was giving the Government and employers 10 days to make an improved offer before deciding its next move.

If they go ahead, the strikes will be the first nationwide fire strikes over pay since 2003.

FBU members rejected a below-inflation five per cent pay offer last November.

The union said the vote on industrial action follows more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts.

It comes as Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure to end the wave of public sector strikes, with a fresh round of mass industrial action set to begin on Wednesday.

Up to half a million workers including teachers, train drivers and civil servants will start walkouts on Wednesday before nurses and ambulance workers again walk out next week.

It will be the biggest day of industrial action in over a decade, when seven trade unions, also including university lecturers, bus drivers and security guards, walk out.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has warned this could see up to 500,000 workers on strike as protests are also held across the country against the Government’s controversial plans for a new law on minimum service levels during strikes.

Unions have dubbed it the “anti-strike bill”, saying it could lead to workers who vote legally to strike being sacked.

Downing Street urged unions to “step back” from the fresh wave of strikes, raising particular concerns about Wednesday’s action.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We still believe there is time for unions to step back and to call on their members not to strike and avoid the sort of disruption we are expecting to see this week, particularly on Wednesday.

“We think the continuing discussions are the right approach and we’d like to see them continue.”