FIREFIGHTERS across Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service may strike after being required to sign new contracts.

The Fire Brigades Union feels the move by the fire service to ‘sack and offer re-engagement’ will see members offered inferior terms and station work hours increased from 35 to 42 hours.

The Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority agreed today that officers are authorised to proceed with crew changes in the ‘most appropriate way forward’ if a deal isn’t reached within two weeks.

Discussions over the future staffing levels have been taking place since August last year. A motion to delay the decision for six weeks for further talks was rejected by the fire authority members

Barry Downey, regional FBU representative said he was ‘extremely disappointed’ by the decision and that the fire authority ‘didn’t want to listen’ to their own members who proposed the delay.

Chief fire officer Nathan Travis said he was ‘really hopeful’ a deal could be agreed.

He said currently crews are paid to work 42 hours a week - 37 in the station and seven on call at home.The change would see them work 42 hours at a station or in the community - which would allow some crews to increase from four to five firefighters, he said.

“This is a very fair and reasonable deal that means we can reinstate crews of five, where appropriate, at our full-time crewed fire stations – providing better resilience and more capacity through different ways of working, whilst keeping our costs within the challenging budget restrictions we face over the next few years,” said Mr Travis.

“We are asking staff to work differently, but we are also prepared to support them through a transition period and even invest any early savings into those support arrangements.”

The agreement between HWFRS and the FBU means crews of five on full-time staffed engines will return at no extra cost to the service.

The fire service say the new duty systems would not require any firefighter to work more than the 42 hours, on average, per week than they are currently contracted to do.

Firefighters will vote on the agreement before the March 1.