The New Improved Formula Really Works ............

Today in the FCCL office we have had a bit of good news. 
It concerns our recent post here 

One of our supporters emailed to say that they had just had confirmation from West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue that their holiday pay calculation on retirement in 2010 was incorrect and they were shortly  to receive

We are assured that the individual concerned will be popping by the FCCL office very soon so we can partake in a celebratory cup of coffee and a bun. (and he's paying) 

This is the third person  we are aware of who has got a windfall due to WYFRS messing up. 

As we know that

2012  - 24 firefighters retired

2013 - 16 firefighters retired 

that's potentially approx £80,000 owing from 

two years alone from operational staff - what about the non operational ones too !!!

and as we have already stated this claim was from a retirement in March 2010! so heavens knows how many more people may be entitled to cash. 

That's a lot of money people may be missing out on  that they may not be aware of. In our opinion the calculations should ALL BE CHECKED going back several years rather than individuals having to make a claim. 

Below are the calculations used for the most 

recent claim. 

Gross pay  £28,199 

Holidays Owed 28 days 

Old Formula 

4 weekly payments divided by 28 and multiplied by the number of days outstanding. 

= £2162.23 

New Formula 

           Annual payments divided by 182.5 

and multiply the number of days outstanding.

= £4326.42 

A WHOPPING DIFFERENCE OF OVER TWO THOUSAND POUNDS. 

Integrity - and the men in the lift

There is a video at the end of this post we really need you to watch

BUT 

Before we get back to our proper blogging after a week of heated conversations with an IT support worker- which warrants a post
in its self - we thought we would just demonstrate how two faced  Councillors can be.  
We would like to share this as a warning to those areas of the country who are currently fighting cuts in fire and rescue provision. Please learn from our mistakes. 

Way back in October 2011 we made our first foray into fighting cuts in fire and rescue, and we learnt very quickly that politicians say one thing and then do another. 

Below  is a snapshot of the Inner East Area Committee minutes - where the local Councillors for  the surrounding area assured the public (FCCL included) that they  agreed with the then Station Commander Tony Head,  that Gipton and Stanks Fire Stations  should be saved. 

Note : 

EIAC strongly opposed the closure of the Gipton and Stanks fire stations and

relocation to one base. Members felt this would undermine the safety, health

and wellbeing of constituents if this led to a reduction in service to the area.

EIAC urged local community representatives to participate in the consultation

and contact their local MP’s. Members thanked Station Commander Head for

his presentation and participation in the frank discussions

RESOLVED

BUT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED WAS THIS ......

Firstly,  it was alleged by a Councillor very publicly  (over a year after the incident) that the Chair of the Fire Authority  Mehboob Khan bullied at least one Councillor into submission. We wrote about it HERE.  and if he bullied one we reckon he bullied more. 

SO ......

Ensure your local Councillors are not going to make political decisions behind your back..... pretty much  the night before the decision meeting was to be  held in our case. 

 ( at least one other Councillor from the same party and ward was unaware that  his colleague was going to vote through the closures - we know we have the text message). 

Don't just  write it down - VIDEO THEM  - so when they are up for re election you can play it back to show what they said. 

AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO.

 (if they don't vote not to close stations etc) 

 If they are in or affiliated to a trades union - make sure their branch is aware that they are potentially voting through  cuts that affect peoples lives ( and not just financially  - it could kill them). Does a political party trump a trades union ?  - nope it doesn't 

( just ask Ed Milliband )  

Get them to state in the press, on TV and anywhere else in the public domain they are against the proposals. 

And last but most certainly not least  get to know your local FBU officials - they are your allies and also technical advisers 

on any campaigns. (although we do reckon ours might be a bit tired of us by now, bless him) 

.AND FINALLY  ...... 

What happened  to our politicians  is  demonstrated perfectly by the video below.....just imagine a lift full of fire officers and a Councillor trying to do what is right.  

Instead of doing what was best for the communities they represent  - the Councillors did what they were told by a set of overpaid, self serving fire chiefs on ridiculously high  salaries! 

It takes guts to stand up to authority  - we know that for sure. 

Timid Councillors + Arrogant Fire Officers = Disaster 

   

It may sound silly  but show your local Councillors this video - it may just  make a difference. 

Calculating Your Holiday Pay.

Just a quickie this evening !  

No - please don't try , honest it's not a good idea! 

There have been a few postings on Facebook recently about West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

miscalculating holiday pay lost due to sickness. 

For information we are showing below the 

NEW  Calculation 

The current formula used by the  Finance department is annual
payments divided by 182.5 and multiply the number of days outstanding.

and the OLD Calculation 

4 weekly payments divided by 28 and multiplied by the number of days
outstanding.  

So if you have recently left WYFRS check 

your final payments.

Any queries,we are sure your local FBU rep will advise.

Please note this is for WEST YORKSHIRE only - we do not know if it applies to other brigades. 

If you do get any back dated pay do let us know.

And finally  a quick thank you to Mark Hamilton for requesting this calculation by a Freedom of Information request in 

November 2013. 

A Substantial Sum

Firstly we need to apologise to our readers for being very quiet recently. This is because the day job has had to take priority for a while as it pays the FCCL office bills, plus for once UNISON stuff has had to take precedent too.

But fear not,  we have been taking numerous notes and have a back log of blogs to post so here we go with the first of many in 2014.

This is a BIG SUM

1,000,000,000,000 +3 /5750  =  173913043.478783

BUT THIS  IS A LARGE SUM..........

WYFRS Illegal Surveillance of staff 

+ Getting Caught 

 =
A LARGE AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION  

We also suspect that  ....

SILENCE IS GOLDEN



And that the person concerned has signed a gagging clause

 preventing them discussing the amount they received.

(and to be honest we can't say we blame them)  

BUT

Yet again WYFRS have been caught breaking the law! Directors of WYFRS have been signing RIPA  orders (Regulatory Power Investigation Act ) to enable them to  SPY on their staff. 

Anthea Orchard discovered a tracking device paid for by West Yorks Tax Payers on her car   - she also had  private investigators taking pictures of herself, (and we strongly suspect her children. )

 Firefighter X as we shall call him also had ILLEGAL SURVEILLANCE and his human rights breached using  tax payers money. And instead of settling quietly, he was going to take WYFRS to a very public Employment Tribunal where all their illegal activity would have been put into the public domain  ( although we are a tad disappointed as we here at FCCL had saved some annual leave to attend)

But it seems Firefighter X has settled out of court for what has been termed a " very substantial sum" 

But it leaves the basic fact that WYFRS  - namely the conveniently recently retired ACO Martyn Redfearn with serious black marks against his employment record

 - will this affect his large pension  .....Nope,

will it stop  him strike breaking - Nope. ...

It seems Martyn has no morals ! Mind you we  already know Morals don't pay the mortgage

But,   it does also  mean that CFO Simon Pilling is desperate to prevent another Tracker Gate  or indeed  Handbag Gate  (mind you we aren't sure if Fire Fighter  X had a handbag for ACO Rhodes and his colleagues to rifle through if he left the room! )

It also means to us  that EVERY COUNCILLOR  on the Fire Authority is complicit in covering up senior managements mistakes by allowing a compromise agreement rather than the open and fair  process of an employment tribunal. It also means they have something to HIDE !

You may be amazed to learn that West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue are Investors in People accredited, IIP boasts..........

 "We make people management excellence count. We're here to help you realise the potential of your people, improve standards and gain the accreditation to prove it. "

so after you have stopped laughing .....

WE BELIEVE THE TAX PAYER's OF WEST YORKSHIRE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY WYFRS HAVE HAD TO PAY OUT TO COVER UP FOR INCOMPETENT VERY SENIOR STAFF!!!!

Mind you those senior staff have recently put in for a pay rise - how much do you think they should get?  We know what we at FCCL would consider !!!!!

NJC for brigade managers of local authority Fire and Rescue Services

This NJC covers uniformed senior managers – chief fire officers, deputy chief fire officers and assistant chief fire officers. They are represented by the Association of Principal Fire Officers. A formal pay claim for 2013 was received towards the end of last year and a response is currently being considered.

SCUMGATE

We have over the many months we have written this blog on occasions been deeply shocked (and disappointed) by the way senior staff in the Fire and Rescue Services have acted.

CFO's shaking hands with scabs returning to HQ, apparently the evidence of that was  wiped from the hard drive?  Not!!!

Managers, watched by HR and an ACO  rifling through handbags when its owner leaves the room and not forgetting  West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue  tracking employees cars and using private investigators to spy on their staff,  the money paid out spying would have paid a fire fighters wages for nearly 6 months! 

And last but most certainly not least we hear tonight that the Brigade Secretary of West Yorkshire FBU has been  told that prior to periods of industrial action  he cannot use his office at FSHQ.  That really is a lock out if ever there was one.

But today our focus has been  on another area of the country - Surrey,   where in a video aptly named URSCUM   you can (allegedly) clearly hear  CFO Russell Pearson of Surrey Fire and Rescue  refer to his striking staff  as scum. 

Chief Fire Officers are not born they are made - climbing the ranks by fair means or foul to end up earning offensively high salaries. You would think they would retain some of the integrity of the operational staff they manage - sadly not  as this video below clear demonstrates.

Ladies and Gentlemen we present SCUMGATE ..... and like it says "make up your own mind" And when you have watched it,  why not send Surrey Fire and Rescue an email to tell them how disgusted you are by clicking  HERE  and using  their compliments and complaints form for a COMPLAINT...





We sincerely hope that tonight a certain Chief Fire Officer  is writing their letter of resignation and compiling an extremely public apology to his staff.

Seasons Greetings

It's not so often we are so quiet for so long,  but every so often the day job has take precedent for a while.

But, as we here at FCCL HQ have had a new influx of staff (whoopee) and we are also starting to wind down towards the Christmas  holiday period, grateful that we don't work shifts in the emergency services, it is time to offer our seasons greetings to everybody!

FCCL Magic Pixie 

HOW  do you send a card to the thousands of people that support
our pages ?  We do confess we struggled for a while to sort out the logistics and after Santa stubbornly refused to assist  (allegedly our request breached his terms and conditions) a magic pixie emailed us  the perfect solution.


Cheers Magic Pixie we are extremely grateful.

All you have to do is  download the image below, print it - fold it into 4 and pop it proudly on your mantelpiece. 
(you could of course tart it up a bit with the application of some glue and glitter 
- we know some of you like a bit of "bling" )

But please do not forget that at this time of year the only thing you should be setting light to is your Christmas pudding so  we include a couple of videos of our favourite bear  as a timely reminders that  FIRE KILLS and has no respect for what time of year it is.






And our personal favourite - 

Blaze Bear Cooks Christmas Dinner - the response time is amazing and they didn't send an FRU - which we understand is the protocol for a "bears reported" incident.   

Time to be very selfish ................

To the many people who read this blog - the majority of whom support the Fire Brigades Union, it is time to be called to

ACTION

 

 

 

Tomorrow we will be announcing the details of  a virtual demonstration in support of the FBU and more importantly those in the FBU who stand up, speak out and are currently being investigated by West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue . Our recent post got over 18,000 views in 24 hrs. For tomorrows post we need that 18,000 views  and many, many more.

 

Although we appreciate that many who are being investigated are not willing to be involved in a public way Fire Fighter and FBU activist Lee Indriks has nailed his colours to the mast  and publicly stated he is being investigated for liking a picture on Facebook. And guess what has happened? He is now being investigated for speaking publicly about what is happening to him.

Lee Indriks - Social Media Martyr
West Yorks FBU  

 

 

 

It is time to demonstrate to Chief Fire Officer Simon Pilling that the persecution and prevention of free speech will not be tolerated.

 

 

 

Watch this Space

 

 

and  in order to be prepared for tomorrow - get out your mobile and take a selfie on your phone. You are going to need it.

 

West Yorks FCDA - we look forward to recording YOU hitting our site tomorrow. :-)   (google analytics is a wonderful thing)

 

 

 



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