UK News 22-11-2002 Firemen`s Pay Offer `Insulting` who: Fire Brigades Union what: Says latest pay offer is insulting as second strike goes ahead when: Today snippet: "Fire union chiefs last night accused the Government of trying to stir up a strike after employers offered them an `insulting` four per cent pay rise with too many strings attached," says The Mirror on the morning the Fire Brigades Union begin their second stoppage in the pay dispute, due to last until the end of next week. At 4pm yesterday, representatives of the local authority employers said they had guaranteed a 16% increase over two years - 4% this year followed by a further 12% next year. But Andy Gilchrist, the general secretary of the FBU, said that only the 4% was guaranteed and the remainder was "tied to modernisation all of which is on their terms". Meanwhile, The Sun reckons that the prime minister "has secret plans to send in civilian HGV truckers to smash through picket lines and seize red engines", comparing his battle plan to the tactics employed by "Maggie Thatcher" against striking miners and printers in the 1980s. Elsewhere, The Independent says "London Underground has threatened to stop the pay of hundreds of its drivers if they refuse to work on safety grounds during the eight-day firefighters` strike." And The Telegraph notes that "a prolonged dispute could seriously upset preparations for possible action in Iraq after Adml Sir Michael Boyce said that deploying so many members of the Armed Forces for firefighting duties was seriously affecting effectiveness and morale." [... more]

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