‘We’re not going to sit back and let the town burn down’

DISPUTE Fire fighters escalate their action with station closures

Ten fire stations across County Cavan have been engaging in a series of rolling closures since Friday with half of them closed at any one time, and retained firefighters only providing emergency cover.

It represents an escalation in industrial action as fire fighters demand improved pay and conditions and a focus on recruiting and retaining new members of the service.

The local firemen are among some 2,000 retained fire fighters across the country who have taken to the picket line.

The strike was organised by SIPTU members after they rejected a Labour Court recommendation by a margin of 82%. The offer included a 24.1%-32.7% increase on their salary while working on a week-on, week-off basis. Local members said it amounted to an "insult" of a 23 cent per hour increase on the current rate of 99c.

As the dispute intensifies, firefighters claim they have had little response from their employers, local authorities, to resolve the issues. Cavan County Council has been contacted for comment but none has yet been provided.

The action means all fire stations are providing emergency cover only, operating at a reduced capacity, with a minimum of three stations covering calls. Retained firefighters are not participating in training or drills or maintenance of the fire stations.

SIPTU Retained Firefighters National Committee Meeting, SIPTU Industrial Organiser for counties Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim, Sligo, Longford and Roscommon Sandra Flanagan confirmed: “We have escalated industrial action, fifty percent of stations are closed.”

The closure came into place in counties where local authorities don't appear to be co-operating with strike measures, which Ms Flanagan says includes County Cavan.

The result of yesterday's meeting will “decide what further escalation will take place".

“We had offered contingency plans to the local authorities and they have refused to accept.

“That is why we have escalated our industrial action,” claimed the union rep.

“They’re silent at the minute,” she said of the local authorities.

Ready to go at a moment's notice

Ciarán Fitzpatrick has been in Cavan Fire Service for the past eight years.

Working as a tradesman during the economic turmoil that was 2015, he needed to supplement his income.

“I was away from home an awful lot, I had a young family, so I was looking for something close to home,” he said of his decision to join the Fire Service.

Despite all the negative aspects of the profession, Ciarán is also keen to promote the positive points of the job as well.

The Monaghan man thoroughly enjoyed the steadiness the job provided, his training, the opportunity for personal development and the contacts and friends he has made in the area.

“There’s a good den of men up there in our station and you meet really good strong friends,” Ciarán said fondly.

Perspective and organisation are the main things Ciarán has learned in his years serving as a retained fire fighter. He recalled recently hearing people complain about “small things”, which would no longer bother him.

“It fairly toughens you up, you listen to nonsense less the more you go on those calls,” he said specifically mentioning clearing up after accidents.

Living in Cavan Town, within a 2km radius of the fire station, Ciarán always parks his car pointing towards the fire station, so he is “ready to go at a moment's notice".

“It does be in your head a bit,” he said.

The father of three coaches soccer in Cavan where his son also plays, he often has to leave training early if his bleeper sounds. He said the same of trips to the park, often needing his children collected at the station so he can respond to a call. Ciarán recalled the time before joining the service when he and his daughter would have gone on a lot of days trips together. That came to an end.

“She wasn’t that happy about it, she was only fourteen at the time.

“It does have an impact on the family, there’s no doubt about it.”

Following in her father’s footsteps, his daughter, now aged 22 years, aspires to join the service but refuses to sign up until conditions improve.

"The work life balance just isn't good enough for young people.”

As a former soccer player, Ciarán said a manager is always looking for ways to improve conditions for their players.

He questioned why this doesn't appear to happen within the fire service.

“The fire station is a lot more serious than sport,” he said, calling for more proactive management.

Although retained firefighters are on strike for better conditions, Ciarán said they are still providing cover.

“The cover we’re providing is good enough to cover anything that happens,” he said, explaining that, when Cavan Town Fire Station is closed, Belturbet station covers the area.

“At the same time, if Belturbet have a massive, big fire, we're going to go and help them out.”

“If it’s life threatening, we have to go to it.

“We’re not going to sit back and let the town burn down and us here, you can't do that,” he stressed.

35 years of fighting fires

David Rogers joined the fire service in Ballyconnell 35 years ago. His father was in the service before him; also other young people living close to him joined. He was aged 19 years when he first went on call.

“It has restricted my movements greatly and I’ve missed out on a lot of my children growing up,” the father of three said.

“When everyone else was going somewhere, they had their parents with them, they had their daddy with them, and I couldn’t go.

“It’s a huge commitment,” he said, adding that retained firefighters have “seen more than what we wanted to see.”

Asked about the impact this has on his head, David paused.

“Well,” he began, exhaling loudly.

“There’s times when you’d harp back the things you’ve seen, and it’d just come back to you.”

He described a recovery mission in Ballyconnell where a lady had drowned in the canal.

“I was let down on a rope to put a rope around her body at the side of the canal just to get her out of the river... She was facing down in the water and she spun around and I suppose I caught eye contact with her and all I could see was, you know, empty space where her eyes were.”

In the main David doesn't feel the job has affected him traumatically.

The Ballyconnell man said retained firefighters just want to be paid fairly for their job and the sacrifices they make for it.

“I basically think that we are way underpaid for the commitment we give and the time off is pretty pathetic.”

“The local politicians, especially the government parties, they’re letting us down big time.”

“It makes us feel that were not very greatly appreciated,” he said, adding that senior people in their service get paid a lot more.

“We’re in it for the long haul this time, in my opinion, it’s now or never.”

“My time is nearly done but, for the future of the service, it has to get sorted out,” he concluded.