Great Work by the FBU!! This clearly shows what kind of work our officials undertake and where our very limited membership fees are spent. ************************************************************************* In 2010, the commissioner docked the pay of crew managers for taking legitimate industrial action Today, in a devastating verdict, a judge ruled that he acted unlawfully JUSTICE AT LAST THE COMMISSIONER OF the London Fire Brigade, Ron Dobson, was under pressure to stand down tonight after a judge ruled in a test case that he acted UNLAWFULLY when docking the pay of crew managers during a period of industrial action in 2010. Around 370 crew managers suffered the deductions. The devastating verdict, which will be relied on beyond the test case, looks set to land the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority with a six-figure bill. It also leaves the commissioner fending off accusations that, in a desperate attempt to break the lawful action which had been called by the FBU in protest at his decision to issue mass sacking notices during a dispute over new shift times, he tried to bully staff into performing work that they were not contractually required to do. Some of those affected by the unlawful pay stoppages have spoken of their anger at the way they were treated, and their sense of satisfaction that after four long years justice had finally been done. Many lost up to 40% of their wages at the time. The FBU’s regional chair for London, Gordon Fielden, said tonight, ‘We are delighted by the result, but not at all surprised. We always believed that the commissioner’s actions were as unlawful as they were despicable. He treated 368 loyal members of staff like dirt in an effort to break lawful industrial action. He should now seriously consider his position.’ Using three crew managers as test cases, the union launched a legal challenge against the deductions. The case rested on the question of whether crew managers who had accepted the ‘star’ attribute—meaning they could be required to act-up to the role of watch manager to cover shortfalls—were entitled to relinquish that attribute at any time without the consent of the brigade. When during the 2010 dispute on shifts the FBU instructed members not to act-up, hundreds of crew managers with the star attribute supported the action and informed the brigade that they wished to relinquish their star. This caused panic at brigade HQ, as bosses knew that it would result in appliances coming off-the-run and stations temporarily closing. So they claimed that crew managers had no right to relinquish their star and must continue to act-up. When, en masse, these crew managers refused, the brigade hit them with massive pay deductions. But the actions of these crew managers were perfectly lawful; they were simply exercising their right not to act-up. WHEN THE agreement between the FBU and brigade over the crew manager ‘star’ arrangement was originally reached in 2005, there was never any suggestion by the brigade that, once signed up to the scheme, crew managers might be required to hold the star attribute for the remainder of their careers and could relinquish it only with brigade approval. Indeed, in the five years before the dispute on shifts arose, several crew managers had relinquished their stars without any problem. So when the commissioner began making the stoppages during the shifts dispute, claiming in messages to staff that crew managers were acting in breach of their contracts by refusing to act-up, many were shocked. In the four years since, during which there have been complex legal wranglings, the commissioner has held fast to the line that he acted fairly and lawfully. But after a three-day hearing at Croydon employment tribunal at the end of October, Judge Christopher Baron disagreed. In his published verdict, released this afternoon, the judge rejected claims by the brigade that an agreement existed with the FBU that crew managers could relinquish their star only with brigade approval. ‘There is no evidence of any such agreement,’ he ruled. In his verdict, the judge showed little sympathy for any of the brigade’s arguments or witness testimonies, even going as far to say he was ‘deeply unimpressed’ by at least one of the brigade’s four star witnesses, all of them senior managers. One of the union’s witnesses at the hearing was Luke Rowson, a crew manager at Feltham fire station. After learning of the verdict, Luke said, ‘I’m extremely pleased at the outcome. I’m not a militant person, but I refused to be bullied. The brigade docked my pay unfairly. Coming just before Christmas, the deductions hit us particularly hard. I’m grateful to the FBU and their solicitors, Thompsons, for all their hard work. This result shows the benefit of being in a union.’ THE COMMISSIONER is now bound to face searching questions about his judgement in this case, in particular why he embarked on a course of action which had little merit ethically or, as it turns out, legally. Fresh from criticism over the consequences of his decision to close 10 fire stations earlier this year—data published last week revealed that response times had increased across half of London—the commissioner is fighting to salvage what remains of his reputation. The emphatic tone of the verdict and the likely costs involved mean there will be huge pressure on the commissioner not to appeal the tribunal’s decision. Summing up the mood, Gordon Fielden, who watched the entire three days of proceedings at the employment tribunal, added, ‘There can be no defence for the commissioner’s actions. He sullied his own reputation and that of the brigade by cynically and opportunistically plundering the wage packets of hard-working and loyal staff whose only crime was to take perfectly lawful industrial action. ‘His case was always built on sand, and the judge clearly recognised that. The brigade’s witnesses—including the commissioner himself—were pulled apart by our barrister, such was the weakness of their argument. ‘The commissioner wanted to break our industrial action, and he wanted to break the will of those whose pay he swiped. In both cases, he failed. ‘I applaud our crew manager members who stood firm throughout their ordeal. They showed loyalty to each other and to their union. ‘I’m just glad that justice has been served. It has given us a tremendous boost as we head into the next stage of our fight on pensions. ‘The old saying that “The Union makes us strong” has been proved true in every way.’
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 22:14:52 +0000
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