Blog

IN 2015, the FBU’s annual conference – the parliament of the union – agreed a new policy on canvassing and conduct in internal elections. Before then, any form of written canvassing by candidates or their supporters was expressly prohibited. The new policy ditched this prohibition, meaning that canvassing – verbal and written – would, from… Continue reading Did the FBU leadership break the union’s rules to help ensure the general secretary was re-elected? You be the judge

THIS BLOG HAS reported previously on the failure by the leadership of the Fire Brigades Union to hold an election for the key position of national officer, which was left vacant as a result of the sudden and controversial departure of Sean Starbuck. Starbuck left the union on 30 June 2021. Under rule E3(2)(iii) of… Continue reading Timewasting tactics of FBU leadership cause further delay to long-overdue national officer election

LEADERS OF THE Fire Brigades Union (FBU) have LOST their legal bid to suppress details of how they have personally spent the union’s funds. In a written judgement, handed down today (11 March 2022), the official regulator for trade unions – known as the ‘certification officer’ – ruled that senior officials had no reasonable expectation… Continue reading FBU leadership LOSES legal bid to block disclosure of spending activities

A SIGNIFICANT EMPLOYMENT tribunal ruling which entitled firefighters to enhanced pay has still not been applied throughout large parts of the UK fire and rescue service more than a year after Campaign for a Democratic FBU uncovered the scandal and brought it to the attention of FBU leaders. Now we call on those responsible to… Continue reading How inaction of FBU leadership has left firefighters £1,000 out of pocket

ON 22 FEBRUARY 2022, the official regulator for trade unions – known as the ‘certification officer’ – will consider a complaint by a member of the Fire Brigades Union (who is also a member of the Campaign for a Democratic FBU steering committee) that the union acted unlawfully by refusing him access to its internal… Continue reading Accounts dispute takes extraordinary twist as FBU leaders seek to hide behind law which, they claim, prohibits disclosure of their status as union members!

ON 7 FEBRUARY, FBU national officer Riccardo La Torre tweeted the following statement in relation to the widely-reported incident which saw Sir Keir Starmer face abuse from a bunch of street protesters in Westminster: “Starmer incident is a result of slurs – of an opponent not having an honest political argument. We’ve recently recieved [sic]… Continue reading FBU national officer in shameful attempt to link critics of leadership to baby rape threats

AT THE END of June last year, FBU national officer Sean Starbuck departed the union in controversial circumstances – the latest in a string of employees to leave after receiving a confidential pay-off in return for signing a gagging order. Under union rules, an election for Starbuck’s replacement should have been held by 30 December… Continue reading FBU leadership breaks rules by failing to hold key national election

FBU LEADERS HAVE been ordered to appear before the official regulator for trade unions – known as the ‘certification officer’ – after refusing to withdraw their demand that a member sign a secrecy agreement as a condition of being allowed to inspect the union’s accounts. A member of the FBU – who is also a… Continue reading FBU leadership to face public hearing over attempts to block financial transparency

IAN SIM has been declared the winner in the election for Scottish regional secretary. Sim, a critic of the current FBU leadership, defeated incumbent (and favoured candidate of the union’s head office) Denise Christie by 757 votes to 588. The result was announced after the union’s executive council decided to reinstate the election yesterday (Friday)… Continue reading Challenger declared winner in Scottish regional secretary election as FBU leadership finally admits: we did suspend ballot

by Dean Gillen, former FBU brigade chair for Nottinghamshire CAMPAIGN FOR A DEMOCRATIC FBU is made up of individuals from around the country who are serving or out-of-trade members of the Fire Brigades Union. Some have held positions within the union. We have come together to try and highlight some of the mismanagement and wrongdoing… Continue reading I was proud to represent the FBU. Now I want to reclaim it for the membership