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Already
we have seen the propaganda directed towards the Fire
Brigade Union and their strike action coming from
the usual quarters. Amongst some of the accusations
we have the 'you will be responsible for deaths' or
'we can't afford such a pay increase' or even a recent
tabloid headline which shrieked 'Fire Union chiefs
are Saddam stooges'. Rather than go over much of the
Fire Brigade Unions (FBU's) well informed and practical
replies to such issues I will make but three points.
Firstly
with the talk of possible deaths isn't it interesting
that the government is falling over its self to provide
millions of pounds to those that may be about to take
thousands of innocent lives in Iraq while in tandem
doing everything in its power to prevent giving a
fair wage to those who put their own lives at risk
to save others at home? With the firefighters' history
of heroism and saving lives - contrasted with the
government's slavish 'interventions' in wars which
constantly take innocent lives and putting aside the
hypocrisy of ministers calls - home or abroad any
fatalities lie squarely at the hands of the government.
The firefighters have always been dedicated to saving
lives with many of their members killed trying to
save others and now have been forced into this action
by a governmental agenda and intervention. I reckon
though we will hear little talk from such government
quarters of the innocents who will die (slaughtered)
by their policy of such a war or indeed anything about
its 'effects' on the economy in coming times.
Secondly
there is the fact of the huge wage hike for some government
ministers or the hundreds of millions spent bailing
out private companies or even the hundreds of millions
more 'lost' on useless projects such as the Millenium
dome etc etc etc. We now have on the one hand in many
such cases where the government has 'intervened' to
provide hundreds of millions seemingly in 'reward'
for bad management, unprofessional bosses, bad practice,
those who destroy lives and health through their sackings
and bad working conditions, and of course to continually
bail out private concerns. Now ironically and interestingly
on the other hand the government has again 'intervened'
but this time though we see no 'reward' for a professional,
dedicated hard working force for public concern, those
who have always risked their lives to save others,
but now is in fact politically attacking them while
some of their media friends attempt to demonise them.
Finally
there should not be any surprise that leading members
of the FBU and no doubt many of their rank and file
are opposed to an attack on Iraq. With the Pentagon
having already drawn up plans for the whereabouts
of the military bases for after the war and the acknowledgement
by many that the possible attack is economically,
politically and indeed strategically motivated, it
is no surprise therefore that such firefighters are
opposed to war. Just like the hundreds of thousands
of other individuals that marched recently in London
they to think that the war is wrong, again no surprise
as they are dedicated to saving innocent lives rather
than taking them. It is also important to note the
point raised by both Jim Barbour and Jim Quinn of
the Northern Ireland branch of the FBU that this issue
has been pushed by the government in part to attempt
to push the issue of Iraq off the front pages. One
just has to remember the senior civil servant Jo Moore
and her infamous E-mail on Sept 11th as being 'a good
day to bury news' and a few months later her giving
other advice to 'bury' poor rail statistics on the
same day as Princess Margaret's funeral. With so many
increasingly voicing their concerns about a war before
it even starts (almost a million marched in Florence
recently) have no doubt the government will use any
and every opportunity to 'create' other news.
Make
no mistake - the Firefighters cause is a worthy one
- we should support the life savers and not the life
takers. Solidarity to the firefighters.
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