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UK fire strike suspended
LONDON, England -- A planned eight-day strike by UK firefighters has been called off following a surprise intervention by the British conciliation service ACAS into the bitter fire dispute. Firemen and women had been due to walk out at 9:00 am on Wednesday as part of a campaign to win a 40 percent pay rise. But the union's executive announced after a four-and-a-half-hour meeting at its head office on Monday that the strike had been suspended so that exploratory talks could be held. The 55,000-strong union and the fire authority employers will now make separate submissions to ACAS in the hope of finding a breakthrough to the deadlocked pay row. The strike has had wide knock-on effects in Britain with 19,000 military personnel taking over fire duties. This led to fears Britain's armed forces would not be ready to join possible military action against Iraq. Despite the talks move the Fire Brigades' Union (FBU) warned that another eight-day strike, due to start on December 16 and run until Christmas Eve would go ahead if there was no agreement over the next few weeks. FBU General Secretary Andy Gilchrist said he welcomed the "constructive intervention" by the chairwoman of ACAS, Rita Donaghy, who contacted both sides in the dispute over the weekend suggesting fresh talks. Gilchrist said: "I am very pleased that Rita Donaghy has taken the decision to put forward a positive alternative to taking strike action. "These will be exploratory talks -- but we have always said we are prepared to talk." Gilchrist said the executive had taken a "very reasonable and mature" decision by deciding to suspend the strike. He described the intervention of ACAS as "timely." Gilchrist has clashed repeatedly with members of Tony Blair's government, including Blair himself.
When the last eight day strike ended on Saturday, Gilchrist said of Blair's Labour Party: "I'm quite prepared to work to replace New Labour with what I'm prepared to call Real Labour. "I have no nostalgic romanticism about old Labour, but there are real Labour values built on real social progress, on real justice for working class people and indeed for fairness for all." He said the UK government had "ensured and provoked" the fire strike and was "prepared to play with people's lives." The strikers are demanding a 40 percent pay increase and took industrial action over an original offer of four percent. Up to 16 percent over three years has been offered by the employers but only if the FBU agrees to a major overhaul of working practices. Blair called the strike "unjustified" and argued to pay more than four percent without an agreement for more modern working practices would set off a chain reaction among UK public sector workers of pay demands costing billions of pounds. Fire Service Minister Nick Raynsford said of the union's decision: "We welcome any move to resolve the dispute providing they are within the parameters set out by the Deputy Prime Minister last week." John Monks, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the UK's unions umbrella group, said: "This is the right move by the FBU and shows sound strategic sense by its executive. "It puts the pressure onto the employers and Government to come up with an offer that can start real negotiations." The TUC said it was going ahead with helping to organise a huge march and rally in central London on Saturday in support of the firefighters.
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