howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
26 November 2010
22:2281814we have all been subject to dimwitted statements from our betters over the last week or so.
today the chairman of the london fire authority in discussion with the fire brigades union over a change in shift patterns described them as a "thoroughly nasty and unpleasant lot".
in an attempt to defuse the situation he went on " most of them are thick, can't string a sentence together and frankly are incoherent".
i wonder how much he earns.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
26 November 2010
22:2781815its supposed to be about all working together, but with comments like that just brings it all into more of dispute rather than trying to work out solutions
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Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
26 November 2010
22:4281819With people like that Howard no wonder the country is going to the dogs.
Put him on Blue watch for 24hrs, colonic irrigation springs to mind

.
GET RID.
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,897
26 November 2010
22:5481828With the chairman making stupid remarks like that it makes me wonder if he really wants a settlement. For some strange reason he must want to prolong the procedings by agrevating the situation.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
26 November 2010
22:5981831well i hope it was frustration
but no helping resolve diffrences
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
26 November 2010
23:0481833good to see everyone decrying the comments, what would we do without our fire persons?
i can remember a time when ken clarke described our paramedics(then ambulance men) as glorified van drivers.
of course these people do not live in the real world where firefighters and paramedics save lives on a daily basis.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
26 November 2010
23:1081834You can say that sort of thing when you are running your own business but when you are a public official you have to button it.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
26 November 2010
23:2281839just to even things up a bit
a study took place where it showed fire fighters only fight figers 10% of there working day
thus the move towards fire prevention.
although there jiob is dangerous these points should be noted
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Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
26 November 2010
23:2881841Is your keyboard working alright Keefy?
10% or not, fire prevention does not stop fires.
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
26 November 2010
23:3881842ian
to have fire fighters sitting around 90% of there day is questionable
and to get into fire prevention can take many forms and does help.
im sounding a bit like a tory so will leave it there for now
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Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
26 November 2010
23:4881843Sorry to drag on Keith but fire fighters don't just put fires out.
so what happens when something kicks off and you aint got the man power?
Say to the relatives, SORRY but we didn't have anyone or enough to attend the situation?
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
26 November 2010
23:5781847believe me i do have a fair bit of knowledge on this, as im sure you do ian
your correct on the role of the fire fighter.
it could be argued on man power there is also the retained fire fighters
but im sounding more like the employer and a tory
just pointing a few things out and trying to balance the debate
at the end of the day if the chair realy wanted to resolve the dispute he wouldnt make such public comments
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Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
27 November 2010
00:0481849When you make a public comment Keith as you know, the intention is to keep the calm and sort it out.
If you make an ass of it and make yourself look stupid or the other party look stupid then be prepared to lose your job.
Thats just what this pillock has done.

and he should.
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
27 November 2010
00:0881850ian
being a union negotiator myself iv seen how the balance of power has changed and theres a real danger of makig political points here but its hard to avoid.
employers were given the power to as good as ignore anything unions had to say,
this dispute is now in danger of getting out of control
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Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
27 November 2010
00:2681855Does it surprise you Keith?
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
27 November 2010
00:3481856ian
no it doesnt surprize me but you go back to scargills days he stated so manyt pits would close and everyone said he was talking rubbish
but at the end of the day he was correct, and even more closed than he stated.
he haddled the dispute badly called a strike wrong time, didnt ballot i a way that meant anything.
but on the other hand maggie was setting her stall to smash all unions, starting with the miliant N.U.M.
but unions have re built some modernised, some stayed as they were.
and now to be an employee you live in fear of if you have a job tommorow
whilst you watch your chief exec earn(sorry i mean get) millions a year.
and rights for the working person hampered.
iv heard employers say, if you dont like it, plenty others out there will
thats those employers who pay dead on the minimum wage or below
employ by threat
anyway im rambling a bit
hope you understand where i come from
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Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,897
27 November 2010
17:1181908Ok firemen might only spend 10% of their time fighting fires. I bet 80% of their time they are cutting people out of cars, rescuing them from floods, answering hoax calls, rescuing those stuck in lifts or doing various drills, plus the assorted animal rescues they have to carry out.
They should no longer be called the Fire Service maybe the Rescue Service would be more appropriate.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
27 November 2010
18:3481927i thought they were called fire and rescue nowadays.
two services that need to be "overmanned are the fire people and paramedics, cannot put a price on what they do.
27 November 2010
18:3981929Ian -

. My Father in Law was a Fire Officer back in the day. I suggest anyone feeling negative about Fire officers has a chat with him about what he has seen and done over the past 40 years. Respect.
Weird Granny Slater
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 7 Jun 2017
- Posts: 3,087
Sorry to wake this thread up, but it had the most appropriate title.
It's official, power induces stupidity:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/power-causes-brain-damage/528711/
Note for the sensitive: the article makes reference both to David Owen and to a 'transcranial-magnetic-stimulation machine'.
'Pass the cow dung, my dropsy's killing me' - Heraclitus