MORE than 600 firefighters are expected to strike in Nottinghamshire on Thursday in an ongoing row with the government over pensions.
Ninety-seven per cent of the county's 800 firefighters are part of the Fire Brigade Union (FBU), and with the organisation saying 87% voting in favour of striking, hundreds could be on the picket lines.
It is the first 24 hour strike of the dispute, following several shorter actions taken by the in the past three years across the UK.
The main concern is the increase to the normal pension age of 55 to 60, which FBU members claim could put jobs at risk.
They said by increasing the normal pension age, older members will be at a higher risk of dismissal on the grounds of failing fitness tests.
Firefighters are also angry that the consultation into the new proposals by the Department for Communities and Local Government has failed to publish alternative plans that the union claims it has had since March.
Sean McCallum, chair of the Nottinghamshire branch of the FBU, said the fact firefighters were striking showed the gravity of the situation.
He said: "The point of a 24 hour strike is to flush out all of this information from the department. I have no idea why they would publish a consultation without all the full information. It challenges the credibility.
"Firefighters have families in the community, they are part of that community, so they will be leaving them without fire services as well. No-one wants to strike but it is the only option left to us."
There are 24 fire stations across the county with 800 firefighters - 97% of which belong to the FBU. Mr McCallum said there was an 87% vote in favour of the strikes.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue would not say how many stations would be operating but reiterated its plea for people to take extra precautions for their own safety during the strike.
A spokeswoman from the service said: "We want to reassure the public that we will be answering 999 calls and there will be firefighters operating, but this number will be greatly reduce so we urge people to take extra care for their own safety whilst the strike is on."
The chief fire officer for the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue, John Buckley, added: "The Service will respond to incidents with trained firefighters using recognised fire and rescue equipment but, with the level of operational cover significantly lower than usual, it may take longer for crews to get there.
"I would therefore urge people to take extra care, either while at home, at work, or when out and about visiting family and friends. Naturally we would prefer to prevent incidents from occurring whenever possible but, if they do, we will respond."
A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government last week said "the FBU has once again shown the country it is not serious about finding a resolution" by striking and said the action would "damage firefighters' standing with the public."
The strike will begin at 9am and carry on until 9am on Friday.
