"You said it yourself- the uncaring governrment- hello?coffee on? You should try working for the MOD! We die and they dont care! " Qman9193.
You obviously didnt read all of my thread. I started by saying that I joined the Army as a boy soldier..... so I have worked for the MoD, infact I still do as Im also in the TA. And, Sir, may I say that it is a totally $hit position to be in but they will continue to take the piss if people let them. eg, When the notification came down to the widow of the RM about repaying £400 wages and moving out, the spineless been counter that thought that one up should have been told where to put his life by the person they told to deliver the message. But it is a case of "I'm all right Jack".
You also said.. "Also by reading the majority of posts in this forum- you can see the armed forces have reasoned arguement and can form our own opinions by reading more than the Sunday Sport- Your low opinion is noted. "
One of the reasons why I posted the thread was because of the very reason you have pointed out. But in reading many of the other responses I can see that even if the IQ is higher than the total Sun readership there are still very badly informed arguments. If you are in full knoledge of the facts and then decide to deride the fire service then that is your choise but if you are not... then you appear to be ignorant and ilinformed.
As for my low opinion being noted, well that in its self smacks of "if you dont aggree with me then your for it!"
This was not ment as an attack on you personally or the Armed Forces, as I say again I am prowd to have served with the colours.
"I got 3.2% this year so I'm going to have to work at promotion if I'm to make a real difference to my pay packet, I don't have time for a second job. " Soldier W.
Whilst I agree the amount you have been paid is not really up to the job you do, you can go for promotion. In the fire service there is promotion but the jump from FF to LeadingFF is only £50 a month. Not realy going to make any difference. The time when promotion payrises starts to show is when I reach senior officer status, nolonger fighting fires, ADO rank and above. And still the pay is only approaching £30k.
"And here was I thinking that the strikes were about an extortionate pay demand! If you hadn't been so greedy then the government wouldn't have looked so closely at your "duties" and recommended change (wasn't it an independant review?) " Soldier Why.
No it was not an independant review.
In Jan 2002 a Govt report was published by the HM Inspectorate, the body who's job it is to know the fire service inside and out and is nothing to do with either the local authority employers or the firefighters.
They recamended a doubling of resorces. From the numbers of fire fighter to appliances to money being spent. They also recamended a pay rise. The report, supprisingly enough, was "lost" and was only "found" when a copy was leaked to Channel 4 for an interview with John Prescott. He babbled, floundered and stuttered but was unable to exlain why a govt report less than 8 months old was totally different to the Bain Report.
At the time of the HM Inspectorate report the FBU went to another Govt body, The Labour Review Board, and asked for a review for the working practices and wages. This is the same body that recamended a 40% rise and pensions rise to all MP's. They looked at what we now do, the hours, danger, skills needed, and where the pay agreement of 1977 should be and said that we should have a .......40% rise!
We didnt pull that figure out of the air!
When the Bain Report was being talked about, it hadnt even started to be worked, one of the "independant" muppets on it went up to a leading FBU rep and told him that we would not get 40%, but 16%. If it was so "independant" how did they know the recamendation before the inqurey had even started?
Also the recamendations that they gave are dangerous, tell me how a fire service can be better and safer with less fire fighters, less fire stations and less appliances? Also the recmendations they gave had ALL been given before by the govt, some as long ago as 10 years. And even more suspect was the fact that some of these "improvements" were wirten word for word the same as they had been back when they were first presented 10 years ago! If you think that is independant then you are mad as a box of frogs! You only thought it was independant because that is what you have been told...... by the press etc. As I said before it best to know the full facts.
Cont.