Photographs By Patrick Trollope. Southport and Formby Fire
Stations may go on strike next week over pay and working conditions after
a national vote was taken for national strike action. The vote that
was cast was a staggering 87 percent YES. A Southport Fire Fighter told us
"We are very saddened to do this and it one of the hardest
things to do. We do not want to strike but feel it is the only way we can
the government to take notice. People often think we just sit around and
do nothing for most of the day. In fact we are always working hard. What
you do not see is us doing inspections of buildings, dealing with visits
to the station, giving basic training to the D of E students from schools
as well a the scouts. Not to forget fitting smoke alarms and detectors. We
also do training each day ourselves and drills day in day out. Each day we
test the equipment, when each shift comes on. We also have lectures to
keep up-to-date on current training and chemicals, not to mention road net
works and other things that might seem like a simple tasks, but really
take up a lot more time then people think. We also have to check all the
roads, fire hydrants and that is just the start of the list. We do not sit
around an play pool all day as some people think. We knew that our lives
could be in danger when we signed up, but this is not about that. It is
about realistic pay and better conditions. The pay structure is out of
date for the current day and has not been updated for over 10 years."
The FBU told us that "We want to see an end to
professional Firefighters working a 48 hour shift at the fire station and
then instead of going home to their families, not
going on to another place of employment to get enough money to make ends
meet." If the government does not resolve the issue by the 29
of October, 48 hour walkouts will be commencing at 0900 to the 31 October
at 0900 hours. If a resolution still had not come forward by then, then
The FBU Executive Council has set the following dates for the initial
periods of strike action. Install working smoke
alarms on every floor of your home; |
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St. Luke's Church, Organ Appeal. St Luke's Church in
Formby held a open church on Sunday the 7 July. Organized by the PPC
the church aims to raise funds to replace the existing pipe organ as the
present one is now too difficult to play and maintain. To replace the
existing pipe organ would cost an amount that is out of the question, so
the church decided to go for a modern digital organ that can do the job as
well and will be less costly to maintain. It will cost £18,000. But they
still have to find the funds to do all this and the open day was one of
the ways to help achieve it. Local musicians put on Organ, piano and other
recitals and choirs sang in a bid to raise the much needed cash. Anyone
who can help or donate cash is asked to contact Andrew Cox on 01704 879377
or June McGibbon on 01704 871244. The open day raised £1,200. Credit Card Fraud. Following a long running
investigation Merseyside Police cheque and Credit Card unit of the
international crime unit, arrested and charged a former cashier of the
Save petrol station on Liverpool Road, Birkdale, under suspicion of credit
card fraud. It is alleged that between May and June of this year,
Wesley Gananaprapasam who lives in London, defrauded more than 50 credit
cards of loyalty card customers at the petrol station to the value of more
than 50 thousand pounds. The 39 year old has been bailed and will appear
at Southport Magistrates on Friday, the 1st of November on charges
of Conspiracy to defraud the clearing banks and major credit card issuers. |
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