Cowcadens Firemen

[golach]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/5192976.stm

I think this is a shocking state of affairs, the Strathclyde Fire Service is going to disciplie these men just because they will not join a Gay March.
It is not as if they are refusing to fight fires or save lives, but to distribute leaflets. Go for it Smokeaters I am with you Fellas

[brokencross]

If they were on duty and hence being paid, they should be disciplined.

They were not being asked to take an active part in the Gay Pride March, they were going to be there to distribute fire safety leaflets. Fire prevention is an important part of a firefighter's job.

Personal predjudices should not come into it. Maybe their reason for refusing, was nothing at all to do with the Gay aspect of the march and was in fact another, totally unrelated issue.

[JimH]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/5192976.stm

I think this is a shocking state of affairs, the Strathclyde Fire Service is going to disciplie these men just because they will not join a Gay March.
It is not as if they are refusing to fight fires or save lives, but to distribute leaflets. Go for it Smokeaters I am with you Fellas
They were not ordered to join a "Gay" (What a waste of a good English word) march. They were instructed to be on duty and give out leaflets, for which they were being payed.
Please don't call the modern Firefighter a "Smoke eater", - that they are not.
However they are well paid for what they do. They are also highly trained and deserve their money. However - the strikes, the daubing of slogans all over the Fire appliances and stations, and marches in what used to be a well respected uniform has sent their esteem plummeting in a lot of peoples eyes. Including mine. The real firefighters are the retained and volunteer crews that serve their communities for little reward, often without all the equipment their wholetime colleages have. I was once proud to wear the uniform both wholetime and retained.

[JAWS]

Is it normal practice in Strathclyde for Firemen to by ordered to hand out leaflets during the many other demonstrations, parades and marches held in the Strathclyde area, of which there are many?

If not, why should this Parade be any different? And if they do it during one Parade does that not mean that they should also be ordered to do the same for the many Political and Religious Parades held in the Area.

If they are to be forced to do it for one Parade then surely they should be forced to do it for every Parade held whatever that Parades reason or motive!

Is wandering the streets handing out leaflets a normal part of their duties because it is not one I have come across before. And whilst they are employed doing that who is providing the cover for turnouts to incidents and fires.

If Strathclyde Fire Service have sufficient spare manpower for such duties I would suggest that they are grossly over-manned and should be saving money by reducing their excess manpower and making more efficient use of their resources.

They could always start by getting rid of the person who obviously has so little work to do as to be able to waste time dreaming up such pieces of nonsense!

[squidge]

They were told they had to do something that was within their job description i am sure - handing out fire safety leaflets at a public event. They werent asked to strip naked to the waist and cavort around with the marchers feeling their biceps. We are all entitled to our "private views" but when we are public servants we are not allowed to let our private views infuence our work. These firefighters did that and as such there is no option but to take the disciplinary route - whther the investigation shows a need for a disciplinary penalty is a different issue - the report says the matter is "under investigation" so we shall have to wait and see but if i was the manager of this group of people i would have taken exactly the same action.

[tip top]

These firemen could be deeply religous christians who take Leviticus literally.

What if they had been muslims and had refused to attend a rally to promote the consumption of pork or jehovas witnesses refusing to attend an event to encourage more blood donors.

I would suggest that if they are indeed disciplined they should play the "I'm a Christian" card

[squidge]

Thats why there should be an investigation Tip Top to establish the facts and decide whether a penalty is appropriate or not.