Firefighters protest again outside No.6 over pay claim Govt says is ‘improper’ 

Unite the Union members at the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service staged a second protest outside No.6 Convent Place on Thursday, as their dispute over firefighters’ pay continued. 

The union said the demonstration followed what it described as “misleading” public statements issued by the Government of Gibraltar in response to the dispute.  

It added further demonstrations were planned in the coming weeks. 

But the Gibraltar Government maintained its position that the claim was not justified and that firefighters already received enviable salaries. 

Unite said the dispute had intensified after the Government published salary figures for GFRS staff “with no context or explanation”, and which the union said it was unable to reconcile. 

It also took issue with subsequent statements comparing Gibraltar firefighters’ pay to UK salaries, raising concerns about the Continued Professional Development allowance and suggesting the cost of meeting the claim would run into tens of millions of pounds. 

The union said no rationale had been provided for those claims. 

Unite said the cost of the claim amounted to £1.39 per hour on a firefighter’s hourly rate of pay, or £803 per day across the whole GFRS. 

It said salary figures published for GFRS staff did not reflect a 42-hour contractual week, 14 hours of weekly conditioned overtime, and further overtime required to cover workplace absences and training. 

According to Unite, this was not voluntary overtime but work that had to be carried out either contractually or to maintain minimum operational cover. 

The union said a worker contracted for 37 hours a week on an annual salary of £40,000 who consistently worked 56 hours a week would earn more than £70,000 a year before any unsocial hours payments or allowances. 

It added that the basic salary of a GFRS firefighter was £40,656 compared with £42,474 for a UK firefighter. 

Unite also said a number of UK fire authorities paid additional allowances, including a nightshift allowance, on top of the all-inclusive firefighter salary. 

On the Continued Professional Development allowance, the union said this had been negotiated and agreed between Unite and the Government of Gibraltar and reflected the ongoing professional responsibilities and training requirements of GFRS personnel. 

“Trading press statements with HMGOG and demonstrating outside of No.6 is not where Unite and our members want to be,” said Stuart Davies, Unite Gibraltar’s National Officer. 

“Our preference is to be sat at the negotiating table seeking to resolve this dispute, but instead we frustratingly have public statements which are misleading at best, whilst offering no context or explanations.” 

“At least when the Principal Auditor publishes a critique of salaries all the detail is provided instead of headline figures that offer no breakdown or calculation.” 

Mr Davies said the lack of engagement had left members with no option but to demonstrate again outside No.6. 

He said their resolve and Unite’s support in their claim is “unwavering”. 

Referring to an earlier statement in which the Government had said it remained committed to constructive dialogue, Mr Davies said Unite was calling for “positive dialogue” to resolve the dispute. 

“In the meantime, Unite members in GFRS will continue to ensure that the safety of the community is maintained and remains of paramount importance,” he said. 

GOVT REACTS 

After the protest, the Government said its position on the dispute remained unchanged, maintaining that GFRS salaries are all-inclusive and reflect the requirement to provide a 24/7 service, including night working. 

It also said firefighters benefit from an “informal stand-down arrangement” during night duties, which it described as a unique advantage not available to other workers such as medical staff and police officers. 

The Government rejected Unite’s claim that UK fire and rescue services routinely pay night shift allowances, saying that “the vast majority – almost all – do not receive a shift disturbance allowance”. 

It also said UK services do not pay salaries above those agreed nationally through the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services, known as the Grey Book. 

The statement said the Continuous Professional Development payment made to the GFRS was “considerably higher than any comparable CPD payment within UK fire services”, adding that it was worth £6,295 a year. 

The Government said applying a 7.5% allowance to all public service grades working night shifts would cost millions of pounds and in many cases would amount to double compensation, because shift working was already recognised either through a separate allowance or through consolidated pay. 

It also said Unite had acknowledged in its own press release that GFRS personnel were already compensated for overtime, in addition to what it described as a generous CPD allowance and other payments above their all-inclusive salaries. 

“This amounts to a final pay packet that many in Gibraltar, and their counterparts in the UK, would envy,” No.6 Convent Place said in a statement. 

“No amount of noise will cover up the impropriety of Unite’s GFRS claim.” 

The Government noted too that taxpayer-funded equipment was used without permission during the protest, which it said had caused serious noise disturbance for workers in No.6 and nearby.