A fiery rant...
I just have to say something about our firefighters who have chosen to strike about their retirement age on the days surrounding bonfire night.
I work with firefighters as part of my job. They are, by and large, heroic men and women who work very hard to keep everyone safe, and you have to respect that. What I can't respect is this temper tantrum over changes to their retirement age, which the government is seeking to raise from 55 to 60 years.
They claim that they may not be able to meet fitness tests up to age 60, but seem totally unable to grasp that this is true of every profession. If I can't continue to do my job to age 68 (which is my current pension age), I can't just stamp my foot and expect to be retired early. I would have to seek alternate employment, something easier, whilst I'm waiting for my pension to kick in. Firefighters should have the same responsibility and, with the huge amount of work undertaken by the Fire Brigade in preventative work, such as installation of smoke alarms in pensioners homes, or in arson reduction or even call handling, there is no reason why firefighters can't work until they are 60.
This attempt to blackmail the Government infuriates me. Everyone is suffering in the current economic climate. We have to spread the pain, and that shouldn't include an increase in burns victims because the people who are supposed to protect them went on strike around bonfire night!
Rant over...
I work with firefighters as part of my job. They are, by and large, heroic men and women who work very hard to keep everyone safe, and you have to respect that. What I can't respect is this temper tantrum over changes to their retirement age, which the government is seeking to raise from 55 to 60 years.
They claim that they may not be able to meet fitness tests up to age 60, but seem totally unable to grasp that this is true of every profession. If I can't continue to do my job to age 68 (which is my current pension age), I can't just stamp my foot and expect to be retired early. I would have to seek alternate employment, something easier, whilst I'm waiting for my pension to kick in. Firefighters should have the same responsibility and, with the huge amount of work undertaken by the Fire Brigade in preventative work, such as installation of smoke alarms in pensioners homes, or in arson reduction or even call handling, there is no reason why firefighters can't work until they are 60.
This attempt to blackmail the Government infuriates me. Everyone is suffering in the current economic climate. We have to spread the pain, and that shouldn't include an increase in burns victims because the people who are supposed to protect them went on strike around bonfire night!
Rant over...