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THE TOXIC, SCANDAL-HIT leadership of Matt Wrack came back to haunt the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) last week after a newspaper exposé into the former general secretary’s personal relationship with a Labour MP. The story, first published in the Mail on Sunday and then picked up by the BBC and other outlets, alleged that Mary… Continue reading Why were FBU members’ money and staffing resources donated to former general secretary’s MP lover?

LAST WEEK, DELEGATES attending the annual conference of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in Blackpool voted to support a highly-controversial emergency resolution claiming that a recent ruling by the supreme court – which held that women and men are defined by biological sex for the purposes of equalities law – was neither ‘sensible’ nor ‘workable’… Continue reading After annual conference voted to throw women under the bus, some burning questions that the FBU leadership cannot ignore

DELEGATES ATTENDING THE annual conference of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in Blackpool this week will be asked to vote on an emergency resolution claiming that a legal campaign launched by women’s rights activists – and which resulted in the supreme court ruling that women and men are defined by biological sex for the purposes… Continue reading FBU annual conference to vote on ‘obscene’ resolution claiming women’s rights campaigners are motivated by ‘far-right ideologies’

IN LATE 2018, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) won a significant legal victory in the court of appeal. The court ruled that changes imposed by the-then Tory government to firefighters’ pensions, which included an increase in the normal pension age, were discriminatory – and therefore unlawful. The following year the supreme court denied the government… Continue reading Six years and counting … What the hell is going on with the pensions injury-to-feelings payments?

IF YOU ARE a trade unionist who believes in the principle that ‘An injury to one is an injury to all’, or that trade unions have a duty to stand by those who represent them in the workplace, or that employers should not be allowed to get away with victimising trade union reps who are… Continue reading How a bullied FBU rep whose case attracted the attention of the national media and Welsh parliament was abandoned by the union and its solicitors

THE SCOTTISH REGION of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has sparked controversy by submitting a motion calling for equality for ‘polyamorous’ relationships to a conference of the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Polyamory is the practice of engaging in multiple sexual or romantic relationships at the same time. The motion, which will be debated at the… Continue reading Crackpot ‘equality for polyamory’ demand sparks controversy in FBU

AS THIS BLOG has previously reported, the government’s trade union watchdog – known as the ‘certification officer’ – published a major report on 12 February into the FBU ‘hush money’ affair. The long-running scandal, which was first exposed on these pages and almost certainly contributed to Matt Wrack’s ousting as general secretary in January, centres… Continue reading Lies, damn lies … and FBU head office communications

A REPORT BY the government’s trade union regulator – known as the ‘certification officer’ – has found that there were serious shortcomings in governance procedures, record keeping and understanding of rules in relation to substantial exit payments made as part of ‘settlement agreements’ to employees of the Fire Brigades Union between 2010 and 2024. A… Continue reading Damning report into ‘hush money’ scandal exposes dire lack of transparency and accountability at top of FBU

THE RESULT OF the election for general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) may be scrubbed from the record, and the vote re-run, after it was discovered that ballot papers were not dispatched to around 3,000 of the union’s members. The error – which affected around 10% of the union’s entire voting membership –… Continue reading General secretary election debacle: members deserve answers

SO A NEW dawn beckons. Matt Wrack is out after 20 years at the helm of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), and Steve Wright is the new general secretary. Until around 18 months ago, it seemed highly unlikely that Wrack would be deposed. He had, for most of his period in office, enjoyed broad support… Continue reading Learning from the past, building for the future. Dissecting the general secretary election