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REGULAR READERS will be familiar with the ongoing controversy – which has even reached the pages of Private Eye magazine – concerning payments of “hush money” by senior officials of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to a string of the union’s employees, a number of whom had made allegations of mistreatment. The affair came to… Continue reading FBU “hush money” scandal: the general secretary speaks – but here’s why his denials don’t stack up

REGULAR READERS of this blog will be familiar with the saga surrounding an attempt by the leadership of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to prevent a member from inspecting the union’s accounting records. The member (who also sits on the Campaign for a Democratic FBU steering committee) had sought to exercise his right under law… Continue reading FBU accounts saga: what happened next

NEWS REACHES this blog that the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Matt Wrack (pictured above), is being sued by a serving member of the union’s ruling body. The unnamed member of the executive council (EC) has alleged that the general secretary discriminated against him on the grounds of a “protected characteristic” –… Continue reading FBU general secretary is SUED by serving executive council member

by Paul Embery ON 14 APRIL 2023, judgment was handed down in an appeal by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) against a finding by the employment tribunal that I had been unfairly dismissed by the union in relation to a speech I had given to a pro-Brexit rally. That tribunal, which was headed by a… Continue reading Why is the FBU leadership peddling untruths about an important legal case?

IN 2021, this blog revealed how leaders of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) had made secret ‘hush money’ payments to a string of employees who had complained of mistreatment. These employees were required to sign ‘gagging’ orders and, in many cases, details of the confidential pay-offs were withheld even from the union’s ruling executive council.… Continue reading REVEALED: How bullying FBU leaders hounded a 66-year-old female employee and almost drove her out of her job

SO THE FIRE and rescue service pay dispute is over. In a consultative ballot, 96% of FBU members voted to accept a revised offer of an increase of seven per cent for the current year, backdated to the original pay settlement date of 1 July 2022, with a further five per cent for the year… Continue reading Pay dispute ends: our assessment and learning the lessons

ON 4 OCTOBER, the FBU leadership announced that a revised five per cent pay offer – an improvement on a previous two per cent offer – had been received from the national fire service employers. The following day, the union’s executive council decided that the fresh offer would be put to members in a consultative… Continue reading Pay campaign: FBU leadership must end the drift and inertia

WE STAND ON the brink of a national pay strike in the fire and rescue service. The FBU will, according to a circular from general secretary Matt Wrack issued on 6 September 2022, begin balloting members next week. Yet the leadership has still not recalled the union’s annual conference to discuss the matter. This is… Continue reading Ballot for national strike action to begin next week. So why has the FBU’s parliament still not been recalled?

NOMINATIONS HAVE CLOSED in the election for assistant general secretary (AGS) of the FBU. Campaign for a Democratic FBU understands that the main candidates are the current vice-president and executive council member for the East Midlands, Ben Selby, and the executive council member for London, Dave Shek. Assuming both accept nomination, the union will hold… Continue reading Election for assistant general secretary. Who should members support?

IT IS CLEAR now that FBU annual conference must be recalled as a matter of urgency. The decision by the executive council to hold a ballot for national strike action over pay has ignited debate among members across the country. A number of members, while supportive of the ballot, have raised questions about the aims,… Continue reading Why “Please, sir, may we have some more?” does not cut it as a demand in a national pay dispute