are there any other jobs that?

[Pat Ostman]

Working for RM is not the same period.

[arnold cheshire]

that you have to argue with a manager when you want to go home on time ?

[Puppetmaster]

Fireman is expected to be as fit as each other regardless of age ,hence why they are going on strike re pensions

[PHARRY]

Fireman is expected to be as fit as each other regardless of age ,hence why they are going on strike re pensions

[Pat Ostman]

Eventually the best will leave RM and only the incapable will be left. Royal Mail do not look after their own.

[Darren Bent]

It is not good to see, I have seen veterans in our office struggling with workload.

[boo634]

Simple that one run current workforce into the ground get rid one way or another employ east european influx on the cheap simples

[Lazycarton]

There are not many companies today that really give a sh1t about their employees. "You should be grateful that you have a got a job" is how they get away with the terrible attitude they have towards staff.

I look upon it philosophically. I will carry on doing the job until I cannot physically carry on. If that is sooner than I would have liked, then so be it. I do not intend to work myself to death, or to be so buggered that I cannot enjoy my time in retirement. It's just not worth it. Take out a big loan in your name only, they can't take it back from anyone else but you or your estate if you peg it (not your wife - she is not liable for YOUR debts)

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Fireman is expected to be as fit as each other regardless of age ,hence why they are going on strike re pensions

i appreciate that it can be a dangerous job
but they retire at 60 and they have a lot of down time during there shifts

Firefighters usually work in shifts - most work two day shifts followed by two night shifts and then have four days off.

Ok, so which room are your children in ?

We are going in, and we are going to try our best to get them out.

Whilst we are in there we are going to take one hell of a hammering from the heat.

Our fire kit will protect us, (To a degree) but that doesn’t mean our bodies will not be put through an exhausting and brutal heat induced shock.

Knowing there are people in there who need rescuing will give us the extra strength needed to fight through the fire to get to them, through the pain.

Whole body burning, blood pressure massively increasing, sweating profusely as the body tries to cool itself.

Breathing rate off the scale and heart pounding to cope with the stresses our bodies are enduring.

Can this type of bodily punishment possibly be taken without consequence later in life of some form. (You be the jury).

But your family is in there, and we willing to suffer serious injury or die trying if needs be to get them out alive.

We are young and healthy and our bodies can endure more punishment compared to a 60 year olds body.

Yet this is what the government wants, 60 year old Firefighters.

Who will be sacked if they can’t reach the fitness standards set by them.

Upon sacking the pension they have paid into all their working career will not be paid to them for a minimum of 7 years.

The media is a powerful tool and the corrupt government has them in their pocket.

I invite any single one of the MP’s (Especially the 55 to 60 year olds) to come down from their ivory towers and try to wear breathing apparatus in a simulated house fire in our training facilities.

Where the temperatures are a measly 300 degrees Celsius.

Just a bit hotter than the blast you get in the face when you open the oven door.

(It would not be very nice to climb inside that oven would it?)

Not like the 1000+ degrees a house fire hits where the pain really sets in and the body truly starts to suffer.

We are not greedy, we pay a large portion of our own wage into the pension. Literally hundreds of pounds a month.

We just want our rightly earned pension when we retire at an age which reflects what we have put our bodies through to protect the public.

We are backed into a corner and we have to fight the governments’ unreasonable proposals to protect ourselves and the public we serve.

Please share this with others, as social media is not yet controlled by the government and their rich chums.

We WANT to rescue your family, We WILL move heaven and earth trying, We WANT to be fit and healthy and able to do so, We WILL try to always be at the standard required.

We WON’T all be able to do that.

We only WANT our rightful pension we have paid into if we can no longer reach the standard.

We DON’T want sacking and left on the scrap pile.

Thanks for reading and please share the TRUTH.

We don’t want to strike!

We joined to help and protect the public!

We are being left with no option!

Thankyou. UK FIREFIGHTERS.

[dark diamond1]

Great Post, and I have guys in my office who complain about 10/20mins lapsing and still finish an hour before their time .......I can't win !

forgot to add, they think they are hard done, I've been in this job over 35 years and a union rep.

[OnAFlyer]

Very evocative post TBT, but on average, how many burning houses does a firefighter actually have to enter, per year? How much ''punishment' do their bodies really take compared to ours, or a builders or labourers?

My wife's grandfather was a fireman and retired at 55, he actually laughs when he tells stories of how easy it was. Double shifts largely entailed being on call for another 8 hours and rarely having to actually do anything in those hours.

Until recently many fireman had second jobs due to the shift patterns worked, can't have been that knackering can it?

Yes it's a hard, physical job when the situation arises - but expecting to retire at 55 when everyone else is looking at 65-70 is a joke.

[DB1100]

This is more like the fire service now http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11635865" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or maybe this ww.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2104358/Simon-Burgess-drowned-firemen-refused-wade-3ft-deep-lake-health-safety-rules.html

[Lounge Lizard]

Fireman is expected to be as fit as each other regardless of age ,hence why they are going on strike re pensions

i appreciate that it can be a dangerous job
but they retire at 60 and they have a lot of down time during there shifts

Firefighters usually work in shifts - most work two day shifts followed by two night shifts and then have four days off.

Yes, a fireman's typical day isn't anything like a five hour delivery, more like 90% of the time waiting for an incident. and they're paid loads more than us.

[krussel]

Come on guys lets get real here

Yes our job is knackering when you get older and yes by the end of the week you do come home and flop in a chair for an hour to recover. BUT we are not putting our lives on the line to put out a fire or being asked to clear up body parts after a major rta.

My Uncle was a fireman / fire chief and never spoke of the horrors which he often had to witness. Yes there is a lot of down time but how do you go home and sleep at night when you have witnessed a child death etc.

Much like the forces and what they have to face our job is nothing like the same. lets not compare.

The best we can do is plan our future and try to get out of RM at 60 on a reduced pension.

[knackeredneedadayoff]

All i am saying is that i have a 16 year old daughter and wife at home because of the fire service,i was on nights and had the dreaded knock at the door ,bad times.