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Injured firefighters challenge government pension rules |
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Firefighters have started legal moves to challenge new government pension rules that are leaving badly injured and disabled firefighters ‘sacked and without a pension’, a Fire Brigades Union spokesperson told FIRE. The FBU described their treatment as ‘totally unacceptable’. A Judicial Review hearing challenging the legality of the guidelines and the process began at the High Court on Thursday March 6. The review started after ‘three disabled firefighters had their pensions removed by the London Fire Brigade’, according to the FBU. FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack said: “The incidents we work at are treated as deadly hazards by everyone else. It is totally unacceptable to expect firefighters to take risks others wouldn’t then sack them if they are injured or become disabled. “Firefighters test the limits of health and safety to save lives whether in a fire or at a terrorist incident. The deal was if we were injured or suffered ill-health we were looked after and the government has ripped up that understanding.”
The legal action is against the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, London Fire Brigade and the Board of Medical Referees.
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