Firefighters and control staff are currently being balloted on strike action. If Fire Brigades Union (FBU) members do go on strike, it would be historic. There have only been three national strikes in the union’s 104-year history, and the last on pay was two decades ago. We do not take this lightly.

The FBU moved to a strike ballot after firefighters and control staff rejected a 5% pay offer in a consultative ballot in autumn this year. Inflation is currently at 10.7%.

This offer would therefore be a substantial real-terms pay cut and this would follow years of attacks on pay. Over the last decade or so firefighters’ real wages have fallen by almost £4,000 a year when compared with inflation (CPI).

Firefighters and control staff are very proud of the work they do. They go to work every day to save lives and protect their communities. But at the same time, like everyone else, they need to pay the bills. They need to pay their rent or mortgage, they need to be able to afford food, and they need to be able to heat their homes.

We’ve had chief fire officers acknowledging that staff are using foodbanks. Some of our officials have been approached to sign people off to use them. It’s an incredibly grim situation. People are worrying about whether they can afford Christmas presents for their kids. It isn’t a situation that should be happening in one of the richest countries in the world, where there is huge wealth. The brutal fact is that alongside huge wealth there is huge inequality in Britain.

We would never underestimate the seriousness of going on strike in the fire and rescue service. This is not a position anybody wants to be in. Striking will always be a measure of last resort. But this is where firefighters and control staff find themselves; reluctantly preparing to take action because they have no other choice. They need a pay rise so they can afford to live. I know many FBU members feel like they have no realistic alternative.

We’re told that there isn’t any money left. But there is money, it just isn’t going to working people. Energy companies are seeing skyrocketing profits off the back of skyrocketing bills working people are being forced to pay. The richest 1% of UK households are worth at least £3.6 million. As of 2019, half of England was owned by less than 1% of the population.

It’s a disgusting situation. There are huge resources in this society, but the political priority for the government is to ruthlessly protect those at the top.

The government and the fire and rescue employers are responsible for making sure the fire and rescue service is properly resourced. That includes with staff who are paid properly. It is their responsibility to make a decent pay offer, one that will see their staff be able to afford to live. The ball is in the employers’ and governments’ court. It is entirely possible for them avoid this dispute. It is not possible for firefighters and control staff to adjust what they need for their basic living standards.

During the pandemic, firefighters and control staff were clapped as key workers. We kept the fire and rescue service going. Firefighters and control staff had to carry on attending their workplaces. That carried huge risks. You can’t socially distance on a fire engine. But firefighters and control staff also took on additional duties. We trained people in the use of PPE, we delivered PPE, we trained ambulance drivers, we had members who drove ambulances. And perhaps what brought it home most starkly to me is we had specialist teams moving the bodies of the deceased.

To be thanked with a real-terms pay cut is beyond disgraceful. We cannot stand for a society that rewards its lifesavers, who put their own health on the line in a pandemic, with a pay cut while money continues to be funnelled into the pockets of the rich. There’s a clear choice, I think, and this is clearly a moment to demand a different way of doing things. This is a moment where things can change and working people can be properly rewarded for the vital work they do.

Your support is vital. Every worker who stands on a picket line draws on the strength of the movement around them. Firefighters and control staff are being forced into this. This is a battle we cannot avoid; we need a pay rise. All workers need a pay rise. We need to stand together.