RETAINED firefighters are at the “end of their tether” as they start a period of industrial action with “no light at the end of the tunnel.”
Retained firefighters began a period of work to rule industrial action on Tuesday with further strike action expected in the coming weeks.
This week, retained firefighters are still responding to emergency callouts as normal, but are refusing to engage with scheduled training and courses, large amounts of paperwork, and standard firefighting communications technology for the incident command system.
If there is no resolution to the ongoing dispute, rolling strikes will begin from June 13 which will see a series of one-day work stoppages at 50 percent of fire stations at any given time.
Staff are campaigning for improvements in pay, working conditions, and a decent work/life balance with agreed time off.
Currently, retained firefighters are on call 24/7 for a minimum of 48 weeks a year and are required to live and work 2.5 kilometres from the station.
These requirements have led to problems with recruiting and retaining staff which has led to stations across Donegal being understaffed and the service under pressure.
In Donegal, it is believed seven out of 15 fire stations are under staffed.
The strike action will cause major disruption to the service but SIPTU Organiser Kevin McKinney told the Donegal News that these firefighters have been left with no choice but to take action.
“This decision was not taken lightly and these members are at the end of their tether.
“They are in conflict with their moral and vocational choices because they want to help their communities but are not being treated fairly.
“The traumatic nature of the job of a firefighter is not being recognised at all – these members have had to attend some of the most horrific incidents in the county but yet there is no reward for this.
“Communities will suffer as a result of this action if the government does not step up and do the right thing,” said Mr McKinney.
SIPTU are meeting with officials this week to discuss the industrial action and if an agreement is reached, the action will be halted.
However, Mr McKinney is not confident the issues will be successfully resolved.
“Unfortunately I do not see any light at the end of the tunnel here.
“This dispute has been ongoing since before the pandemic, around four or five years and nothing has changed since then and it will take something special to happen for this to be resolved.
“We have been involved in negotiations for years but nothing has changed.
“I hope and pray a solution is found because our members do not want to be doing this but they simply have been left with no choice,” said Mr McKinney.
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