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THE FBU leadership suffered a major – and entirely self-inflicted – defeat on the floor of the union’s annual conference in Brighton today (12 May), when delegates voted in favour of a proposal to have future vacancies for all national officer positions filled by means of an election of the whole membership and not by… Continue reading Democracy prevails as FBU leadership suffers major – and self-inflicted – defeat on conference floor

LAST WEEK, this blog asked if a plan hatched by the FBU leadership to have every policy of the union remain in force for 20 years as a default constituted the most ill-conceived proposal ever presented to the union’s annual conference. We think there might now be a new contender. Resolution 82 from the Staffordshire… Continue reading Bizarre resolution to FBU annual conference calls for union to be exempt from employment law!

BETWEEN 10 – 13 MAY, the FBU’s annual conference will take place in Brighton. Delegates from every brigade across the UK will gather at the Grand Hotel in the town to debate and vote on a wide range of topics affecting the union’s members. One particular item that has caught the eye of this blog… Continue reading Is this the most crackpot proposal ever put to FBU annual conference?

In 2015, the FBU’s annual conference – often described as the “parliament of the union” – agreed a policy statement entitled “Membership, Recruitment and Organising”. The statement, which was moved by the executive council, was agreed against the backdrop of rapid and deep-seated changes taking place in the UK fire and rescue service – changes… Continue reading Why has a radical plan to secure the FBU’s future been left to gather dust on a shelf?

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