UK fire crews finalise strike plan

UK firefighters want a pay rise of 40 percent

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LONDON, England -- Firefighters' leaders in the UK are meeting to discuss strike action due to be launched next week, following a bitter clash over pay with the government.

The strike is the latest in a wave of protests by unions across Europe.

On Tuesday, UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott attacked the strikes as "completely unjustified", and said the unions' 40 percent pay demand was "indefensible".

Prescott and fire service minister Nick Raynsford are launching a new fire safety campaign on Wednesday.

The publicity drive will hammer home the message that in the event of a fire, homeowners should "get out and stay out" of their properties and call 999.

The Fire Brigade Union (FBU) is accusing British ministers of trying to blackmail its members about the level of emergency cover offered during the walkouts.

Ageing military "Green Goddess" fire engines are expected to be put into action across the UK.

The vehicles, which were built in the 1950s and 1960s and have a top speed of 50mph, were last used in the 1977 firefighters' strike.

The strikes are due to start next Tuesday and run until Christmas Eve, for a total of 36 days.

CNN's European Political Editor Robin Oakley said confrontation between government and unions had been seen in many European countries recently.

But he said it was impossible to highlight any single cause for the action.

Stranded passengers wait for flights to resume in Rome's Fiumicino International airport last Friday

"In France there could be a rash of strikes coming up because more privatisation is planned," he said.

"The socialist government brought in a 35-hour week and now the conservative government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin is starting to move away from that. There will undoubtedly be labour troubles on that front."

Spain's major trade unions called strikes over the summer to protest against the conservative government's unemployment reform, which they said would cut benefits to many of Spain's unemployed.

"We also have strikes in Italy, which again is to do with changes in the law, and is basically resistance to more flexible labour markets. At the moment it is almost impossible to fire someone in Italy.

"So there is certainly confrontation across Europe, but it tends to be slightly different issues in different countries," he said.

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