The Daily Mirror today has a story about Brian Coleman being forced to apologise for his behaviour at an event that took place earlier this year. I have learned a few more details.
The event was the London Fire Brigade's long service and good conduct medal ceremony. It took place on 7 April 2010, the day after two Southampton firefighters, Alan Bannon and James Shears, died fighting a fire in a block of flats.
A minute's silence was proposed to honour the dead firefighters. There was some confusion about who would announce the minute's silence - as if that mattered. Coleman interrupted the woman leading the ceremony and said "'I will announce the minute's silence when I'm good and ready". He then announced the minute's silence.
A number of firefighters were so annoyed by Coleman's insensitivity that they refused to shake hands with him later on.
Two people complained to Coleman at the event, and one was told "to leave if they didn't like it".
The incident was reported in a complaint to Barnet council but passed on by them to the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority which Coleman chairs. It is in this capacity that he took part in the ceremony.
When will the Conservatives - Barnet Conservatives, in the first instance - wake up to what a liability this man is?
Showing posts with label LFB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LFB. Show all posts
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Sunday, 31 October 2010
LFB plays tricks on FBU
The London Fire Brigade summoned the FBU to talks today, Sunday, to offer them... nothing new of substance. It's hard to know why they bothered.
So tomorrow's strike is still on, 10am-6pm. Please visit a fire station if you are able to go, and show your support for the firefighters, threatened with the sack a month from now if they don't agree to new contracts.
If you're not convinced of their case, go anyway and ask them all about it.
The Sundays have been full of the most lurid tales of firefighters working as models and so on and commuting from Spain, in a desperate attempt to get the British public to hate them as much as we hate Brian Coleman. It will take a lot more than that.
So tomorrow's strike is still on, 10am-6pm. Please visit a fire station if you are able to go, and show your support for the firefighters, threatened with the sack a month from now if they don't agree to new contracts.
If you're not convinced of their case, go anyway and ask them all about it.
The Sundays have been full of the most lurid tales of firefighters working as models and so on and commuting from Spain, in a desperate attempt to get the British public to hate them as much as we hate Brian Coleman. It will take a lot more than that.
Friday, 29 October 2010
Brian Coleman: the biggest, most useful idiot in Britain
I'm sure you don't believe everything you read in the papers, but some of the more lurid stories in the press today really take the biscuit. Articles such as this in the Sun: "Flaming cheek of fire strike boss", aimed against FBU general secretary Matt Wrack. This is not journalism, this is class warfare with the gloves off. And it's crap, of course.
The FBU have never demanded £10k in return for shift changes. And the strikes were not called over the substantive issue in their dispute with the London Fire Brigade - shift patterns - but against the sacking threat. From 26 November, all of London's 5,600 firemen and women could be sacked. We would have no fire service to speak of in London.
Where does the Sun get stories such as this? Who feeds them this crap? Who do you think?
The decision to take on the firefighters is a political one - the government wants to make an example of one of the strongest, best organised groups of workers, and batter them into submission. After that, what group of workers will have the courage to stand up to the government's cuts and job losses?
The man who is fronting this attack for the government is one of the most inept politicians ever - Brian Coleman. But he is also one of the thickest skinned and most arrogant men alive - he can take quite a lot of working class ire, he can take a lot of anyone's ire. So long as there is a London taxi for him to hop into and speed him to his next dinner engagement, and so long as there is an expense account to pay for it, Coleman will do anything to London's public services and anything to London's public servants that the government asks him to. I was going to call him a class warrior, but I think he is actually just the biggest, most useful idiot in Britain.
A leaflet outlining the main issues in the fire dispute, published by London region FBU, is available here. I urge Barnet residents to read it, and not to believe what they read in the Sun or the Evening Standard or Metro for that matter. As if you would.
The FBU have never demanded £10k in return for shift changes. And the strikes were not called over the substantive issue in their dispute with the London Fire Brigade - shift patterns - but against the sacking threat. From 26 November, all of London's 5,600 firemen and women could be sacked. We would have no fire service to speak of in London.
Where does the Sun get stories such as this? Who feeds them this crap? Who do you think?
The decision to take on the firefighters is a political one - the government wants to make an example of one of the strongest, best organised groups of workers, and batter them into submission. After that, what group of workers will have the courage to stand up to the government's cuts and job losses?
The man who is fronting this attack for the government is one of the most inept politicians ever - Brian Coleman. But he is also one of the thickest skinned and most arrogant men alive - he can take quite a lot of working class ire, he can take a lot of anyone's ire. So long as there is a London taxi for him to hop into and speed him to his next dinner engagement, and so long as there is an expense account to pay for it, Coleman will do anything to London's public services and anything to London's public servants that the government asks him to. I was going to call him a class warrior, but I think he is actually just the biggest, most useful idiot in Britain.
A leaflet outlining the main issues in the fire dispute, published by London region FBU, is available here. I urge Barnet residents to read it, and not to believe what they read in the Sun or the Evening Standard or Metro for that matter. As if you would.
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
FBU statement on Coleman's no-show; support rally tomorrow
The Fire Brigades Union has issued the statement below in response to today's much advertised but non-existent talks between the union and Brian Coleman:
Last night on national television, the leader of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), Brian Coleman, invited us to conciliation talks at 9am this morning. It’s dreadfully disappointing that after four hours there was still no sign of him or the Chief Fire Officer, Ron Dobson. Regrettably, the brigade representatives in attendance had nothing new to say to us.If anyone is in central London tomorrow evening, Thursday 28 October, from 6-8pm there is a rally and meeting in support of the FBU being held at Trades Union Congress House, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3LS. Come and hear the firefighters' side of the story.
Where was Councillor Coleman at 9am, having said that he would be here in talks with us? He is not taking this issue with the seriousness that firefighters and Londoners expect of the leader of the LFEPA.
The LFEPA proposals on new working hours would seriously disrupt firefighters’ family lives and lead to cuts in fire cover. All the same, the LFEPA does not have to reach agreement with us on shifts to get us to call off the strikes. They just have to withdraw the sacking notices that were sent out on August 11th.
Our message is that we will cancel all planned strikes if the brigade agrees to lift the mass sackings. We can then negotiate a fair settlement as equal parties.
For further information please contact:-
Francis Beckett 020 8349 9194 07813 001372
Helen Hague 020 8340 75571 07889 792360
Coleman won't get out of bed to avert fire strikes
I don't know if you saw Channel 4 News last night. Jon Snow forgot he was a journalist and played instead at being a tired parent knocking heads together. His two naughty children were Matt Wrack, General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), and Barnet's own Brian Coleman, chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.
I did watch it, and I distinctly heard Brian Coleman saying he was ready for talks at any time. Matt Wrack offered to meet him after the show. Brian negotiated him down to 9am this morning. I suppose he had a dinner date to attend.
But at 9am this morning, while the FBU negotiating team, true to its word, turned up to negotiate, Coleman and the London Fire Brigade commissioner Ron Dobson did not.
Perhaps Coleman couldn't be arsed to get out of bed. Does anyone have any idea of where he was this morning?
The FBU have called strikes because they are not prepared to work with the threat of the sack hanging over their heads. As things stand, LFB could start laying off all of London's 5,600 firefighters in mid-November. The clock is ticking and Coleman is nowhere to be seen. Lazy and slippery.
P.S. This snub seems particularly insulting given that Wrack, on behalf of the FBU, recently made Coleman the gift of a book - Firefighters and the Blitz.
I did watch it, and I distinctly heard Brian Coleman saying he was ready for talks at any time. Matt Wrack offered to meet him after the show. Brian negotiated him down to 9am this morning. I suppose he had a dinner date to attend.
But at 9am this morning, while the FBU negotiating team, true to its word, turned up to negotiate, Coleman and the London Fire Brigade commissioner Ron Dobson did not.
Perhaps Coleman couldn't be arsed to get out of bed. Does anyone have any idea of where he was this morning?
The FBU have called strikes because they are not prepared to work with the threat of the sack hanging over their heads. As things stand, LFB could start laying off all of London's 5,600 firefighters in mid-November. The clock is ticking and Coleman is nowhere to be seen. Lazy and slippery.
P.S. This snub seems particularly insulting given that Wrack, on behalf of the FBU, recently made Coleman the gift of a book - Firefighters and the Blitz.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Coleman relaxes as London burns
Brian Coleman's powers of relaxation are world-renowned. In the picture above we can see him relaxing at work.
In the last few days he has pronounced himself relaxed at the prospect of Barnet residents getting the keys to council grit bins this winter (no issue is beneath his consideration), but also, alarmingly, about the idea of sacking all of London's 5,600 firefighters.
He says he can replace the trained and experienced workforce quickly.
Presumably he is also fairly relaxed about the money he has thrown away on the AssetCo contract: £12 million. (It's not his money, after all.) I say thrown away, because this private company, given 27 of Londoners' fire engines to run during the FBU strike on Saturday, in no way rose to the challenge. Only about 11 of the alloted stations were covered; crews crashed engines; fires went out of control. Because of Coleman's gung-ho attitude to industrial relations, and intense relaxation at the thought of exposing others to risk, London was left without fire cover for eight hours.
Another eight-hour strike is scheduled for Monday 1 November. If Coleman cannot stop relaxing and start showing some responsibility, hopefully the people around him can. Coleman will not move out of his complacency until someone sticks a firework up his arse and lights it. Until that happens, London will burn.
The trades council and Barnet Alliance for Public Services has called a lobby of the council -Tuesday 2 November, 6-7pm, at Hendon Town Hall. Hopefully the dispute with the Fire Brigades Union will be resolved by then. If not, make this the night that you come and tell Coleman to stop playing with our lives.
Friday, 24 September 2010
Coleman - the perfect scab
The man who has done more than anyone else to provoke the current industrial action by London's firefighters, Brian Coleman, chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, is quoted in the Times series calling on firefighters not to vote for strike action because they will lose pay.
The firefighters are currently taking industrial action "short of strike" in their dispute with London Fire Brigade. LFB wants to change firefighters' shift patterns, equalising the lengths of the night and day shifts. The implication for firefighters of such a change would be that they would have less "stand down" time during the night shift. Stand down time is important if firefighters are to function well when called out - no human being functions as well at night as they do in the night.
The implication for London residents of equalising the shifts is it would make it easier to cut shifts altogether, for instance, closing some fire stations at night - when most fires happen.
Rather than negotiate with firefighters, the LFB took the nuclear option and has threatened to sack all of London's 5,500 firefighters unless they accept the shift change. The firefighters' union, the FBU, responded by balloting for industrial action short of a strike and won an overwhelming "yes" vote. They are currently balloting on strike action, since the LFB has not refused to withdraw the redundancy notices.
Brian Coleman's most convincing argument used with the firefighters is - if you go on strike, you will lose pay. Everyone who ever votes for or goes on strike knows that, and it is the price they must pay for exercising their right to withdraw their labour. In fact, every worker who does not join a strike - who crosses a picket line - knows it too. And the excuse you hear most frequently from such people - strike breakers, scabs - is "I can't afford to lose the pay".
Such people are always happy to benefit from the results of the sacrifices made by others. They always think that somehow their case is special, that no one else is as needy as them. Brian Coleman, I can see now, if he were ever to fall from his cherished position in the petty bourgeoisie and down into the working class, would make the perfect scab.
P.S. The result of my not at all frivolous poll, recently concluded, is nobody would piss on Brian Coleman were he on fire. 20 people would call the LFB to douse him "as that job is best left to the experts". This being so, I suggest Coleman refrain from smoking in bed or standing close to a naked flame in a loose nightshirt for the next period.
The firefighters are currently taking industrial action "short of strike" in their dispute with London Fire Brigade. LFB wants to change firefighters' shift patterns, equalising the lengths of the night and day shifts. The implication for firefighters of such a change would be that they would have less "stand down" time during the night shift. Stand down time is important if firefighters are to function well when called out - no human being functions as well at night as they do in the night.
The implication for London residents of equalising the shifts is it would make it easier to cut shifts altogether, for instance, closing some fire stations at night - when most fires happen.
Rather than negotiate with firefighters, the LFB took the nuclear option and has threatened to sack all of London's 5,500 firefighters unless they accept the shift change. The firefighters' union, the FBU, responded by balloting for industrial action short of a strike and won an overwhelming "yes" vote. They are currently balloting on strike action, since the LFB has not refused to withdraw the redundancy notices.
Brian Coleman's most convincing argument used with the firefighters is - if you go on strike, you will lose pay. Everyone who ever votes for or goes on strike knows that, and it is the price they must pay for exercising their right to withdraw their labour. In fact, every worker who does not join a strike - who crosses a picket line - knows it too. And the excuse you hear most frequently from such people - strike breakers, scabs - is "I can't afford to lose the pay".
Such people are always happy to benefit from the results of the sacrifices made by others. They always think that somehow their case is special, that no one else is as needy as them. Brian Coleman, I can see now, if he were ever to fall from his cherished position in the petty bourgeoisie and down into the working class, would make the perfect scab.
P.S. The result of my not at all frivolous poll, recently concluded, is nobody would piss on Brian Coleman were he on fire. 20 people would call the LFB to douse him "as that job is best left to the experts". This being so, I suggest Coleman refrain from smoking in bed or standing close to a naked flame in a loose nightshirt for the next period.
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