Firefighters protest again outside No.6 over pay dispute

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.

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.