Sponsored by
Time to call in the arbitrators
UNION leaders and management in the South Yorkshire fire service today embarked on a dangerous exhibition of brinkmanship after 744 frontline firefighters were told they face the sack if they don't sign new contracts.
No matter how much gloss the service's bosses apply to the terms they have laid down, suggesting the letter is a 'legal technicality', they have now set themselves on a collision course with their own staff.
Similarly the Fire Brigade Union's barnstorming stance, accusing their bosses of 'bully boy tactics' and warning of 'serious industrial action', shows no room for compromise or manoeuvre.
Caught in the middle is a public who cannot help but feel increasingly alarmed at the prospect of a county with its fire and rescue service in chaos or, worse, in a state of collapse.
The time has come for this long-winded argument over shift patterns to be settled once and for all. If men and management cannot agree then this publicly-funded organisation and its publicly-paid staff must submit themselves to outside arbitration.
Decisive action is needed on school
ARGUMENTS over the future of Abbeydale Grange School are increasingly taking on echoes from the fight to keep open Wisewood School, which was eventually condemned to closure and its pupils moved to a new building on the Myers Grove school site.
The difference is that on that occasion the Lib Dems fought tooth and nail to keep Wisewood open, now closure of Abbeydale is increasingly looming on their watch in charge of the city council.
The public lost faith with the council over Wisewood because the consultation process was exposed as a sham. In many ways they would have preferred politicians to speak their mind, even if they what they said wasn't what the public wanted to hear.
A prolonged debate over Abbeydale can only be damaging, particularly if it is once more shown that the current discussion process delays the inevitable just because it's politically unpopular.
What do you think? Add your comment below.
BUY ONLINE: Buy The Star - Monday to Saturday - for local news, sport, features and ads. Sign up on line by clicking here.
READ MORE
Main news index
Your letters
Features
South Yorkshire's environmental news
Kids Zone
More business news
More Rotherham news
More Doncaster news
More Barnsley news
Latest sport
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
