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FIREFIGHTERS and 999 control room staff in Essex walked out on strike yesterday in protest at huge cuts in front-line services.
They planned a series of short strikes over three days — but management responded by locking them out for the full three days.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Authority (ECFRA) plans to cut at least 179 front-line firefighters and control staff — a 20 per cent reduction.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) had been seeking solutions to a funding crisis caused by the coalition government’s cuts, but ECFRA pressed ahead with the cuts anyway.
“Compromise proposals, that we put forward, were rejected even though they achieved the savings needed and increased productivity targets that the service wants,” said FBU Essex secretary Alan Chin-Shaw.
“Instead the fire chiefs have imposed unacceptable changes that do not save a penny more or deliver any improvements in service to the public.”
