Fire staff face sack, says union

The Fire Brigades Union described the suggestions as "bully-boy tactics"

Hundreds of firefighters could be sacked if they do not accept proposed changes to shift times, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has claimed.

The FBU said it had received a fax saying 744 workers in South Yorkshire faced losing their jobs.

But the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said it "doesn't want to consider" job cuts and wanted to make "minor changes" to protect services.

The dispute is over plans to make both day and night shifts 12 hours long.

Under the proposals, firefighters would go from working nine-hour day shifts and 15-hour night shifts to 12-hour day and night shifts.

'Difficult to comprehend'

The union said this would impact on family time and child care.

The FBU claimed the decision to "attempt mass sackings" was made in a private meeting and has threatened to strike.

"The fire authority has taken the road to serious industrial action by this disgraceful move," a spokesman said.

However, the service said it wanted to avoid job losses and station closures while seeking to achieve £4m worth of improvements.

Chairman Jim Andrews, said: "This authority doesn't wish to consider cuts in services, jobs or fire stations.

"We want to continue improving services and these minor changes to working arrangements will enable us to get the most out of what we have got.

"With thousands of people in South Yorkshire having lost their job in recent months, it is difficult to comprehend the FBU's opposition to this minor change of moving three hours from the night shift to the day shift."