The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has secured unanimous backing from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) for key campaigns covering firefighter health and wellbeing, justice for the Grenfell Tower fire and greater national resilience against wildfires.
The decisions at Congress strengthen union calls for action on some of the most significant challenges facing firefighters and fire and rescue services across the UK.
Health and wellbeing concordat gains support
Congress backed the firefighters’ concordat on health and wellbeing, marking a further step for the FBU’s DECON campaign, which has highlighted the risks firefighters face from contaminants released during fires.
The TUC welcomed the government’s announcement of the concordat, alongside new funding for research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and a commitment to increase health monitoring for firefighters.
Occupational exposure as a firefighter was classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2022.
The FBU has also commissioned research from the University of Lancashire examining cancers, diseases and mental health among firefighters.
The union’s DECON campaign has sought to increase awareness of occupational exposure to contaminants and improve measures designed to protect firefighters throughout their careers.
Congress backs Grenfell justice campaign
The FBU also received unanimous TUC support for its demand that those responsible for the Grenfell Tower fire are brought to justice.
Next year will mark ten years since the 2017 fire, which claimed 72 lives. No prosecutions have yet taken place.
The union has continued to raise concerns about fire safety standards and the number of people still living in buildings affected by flammable cladding.
The TUC vote adds the wider trade union movement’s support to the FBU’s calls for accountability as the tenth anniversary of the disaster approaches.
National Wildfire Summit
Firefighters also secured TUC backing for calls for a National Wildfire Summit and additional firefighters and equipment to strengthen the response to the growing wildfire threat.
Congress supported a composite motion on climate change that incorporated the FBU’s demand for a national summit and increased resources.
The union argues that the UK needs a coordinated wildfire strategy and greater resilience within fire and rescue services to respond effectively to changing risks.
According to the FBU, one in five firefighter jobs has been lost since 2010. The union is calling for 5,000 additional firefighters as a starting point to ease pressure on services.
Taken together, the three motions give the FBU wider trade union support for its campaigns around occupational health, accountability and operational resilience, placing firefighter safety and resources firmly on the TUC agenda.
