London firefighters are to hold two eight-hour strikes in a dispute over changes to shift patterns, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said today.
The FBU said its members would walk out from 10am until 6pm local time on October 23rd and again for the same hours on November 1st.
The Fire Brigade, which has about 5,500 firefighters in London, wants to impose equal 12-hour day and night shifts, to replace the current system of two nine-hour day shifts and two 15-hour night shifts per week.
Firefighters, who voted 79 per cent in favour of taking strike action, have already been taking action short of a strike including a ban on overtime and other goodwill gestures.
The FBU had offered to call off any industrial action if the Fire Brigade withdrew letters of dismissal to staff who did not accept proposed changes in shift working.
The Fire Brigade said it would put in place contingency measures to ensure Londoners were still protected during the strike.
Reuters