TopLess

Ok, Wrong, We work two days, two nights, THREE DAYS OFF. You can POTENTIALLY sleep between, 2400 hrs and 0630, which 95% of the time is interrupted by multiple call outs, but as I say, you don't get a nights rest, the prospect of meeting an inferno or someone dying does not make a good precursor for a deep sleep. We are at work all the time, have you ever worked as if your own life or someone elses depends upon it? We do, you work harder than you can ever imagine, to try and rescue an adult or child, do you know what the stress is like realising that you can go on a call like that, do you really think we can sleep properly with that hanging over our heads? We work all the time, apart from what you might define as 'sleep' on a station, so that would be 13 hours away from 48 hour tour of duty! We only have three days at a stretch to work, and yes you do have an oppurtunity to do extra work. Why don't you go and work nights Kinace? A lot of FF's finish their last night shift and go straight out to work because they cannot support their families on their income! I do have another income, what else would you like to know about this and for what purpose?Probably 70-80 % of FF's have to work Part time to support their families. WRONG There is no ban on Full Time FF's working as retained FF's, I know several who do? On one point you are right so far, the Union does ban OT but the FF's want to work OT and are telling the union they want to engage this option! The employers contribution to the Pension scheme is marginally higher than a Private company this is to compensate for the fact that a FF is no longer fit for Fire Fighting duties past the age of 55. And of course FF's are tax payers to! ONLY after 30 years continous service a FF's pension is two thirds of his final salary! Wrong we have never been asked to reduce our staffing levels at night, I presume this is what you are implying? In my opinion, you would be stupid to do so, more fire deaths occur at night. The reason being fires are undiscovered at night when people are asleep, passing people are not out as much and can't see the smoke issuing from the building because it does not show against the night sky! No NY FF's basic is not less than UK's, before OT they earn $45k a year, no they have not modernised the service. Their shift system is two days on i.e. 48 hours, SIX DAYS OFF! If that is modernisation, I'll vote for it. They are in fact considering industrial action soon, for a payrise! The union is not opposed to Modern working practices, that is a separate issue from our current pay dipute we have called. The review we commisioned decided that under our current working practices we are worth 30k. We will discuss working practices as a separate and different issue! Wrong. That are the current proposals, that a Fire Appliance will go on a medical call, when there are no ambulances readily available. 6 months ago a man entered our station with severe chest pains we contacted the ambulance service and they replied they had no ambulance available! We ended up taking him to hospital on the back of a fire truck! That is the current state of play, wake up! Ok the police are often first on the scene of a stabbing, attack, terrorist attack, why not make them paramedics? If you had a properly funded ambulance service you would not be asking this question! We ride most of the time with 4 guys on a fire appliance, it takes the minimum of three/four to put a ladder up, two guys then get into BA to put the fire out, one guy operates the pump for the hose, one guy is in control of the incident and makes radio messages for further help and assistance. Who will be the paramedic? The reason we are usually first on the scene is because FF's have protected safe fire appliance levels via their union! If we were as poorly funded as the ambulance service, then we might not have been available! Strange the Tory press critcising Union action! All the rest are up the arses of New Labour since it is the only political party remaining! You say I have left a lot out of my replies, please tell me what, OH I apologise i have only had 40 odd people asking me questions! I believe I have now answered every point you have put to me? And it appears the you are now the mine of misinformation, because you shouldn't believe what you read in the papers? You say people are queing up to get in, they hardly leave and they complain about what they are getting paid? Maybe they are a kind of people you don't comprehend, the ones that like helping people, the ones that want to give something back, the ones who enjoy working as a team and having a distinct sense of purpose in their life! So you believe striking is wrong, what action should we take, maybe we should tickle Tony Blair until he gives the less money in a pay rise than he gave himself this year. You say I have not answered your questions, YOU HAVE NOT ANSWERED MINE! I repeat why don't you tell me: What you do for a living? How much you earn? What you do to give something back to society? Mark

Hi James, I would like to order a couple of bits, I also live on London, let me know when you need some cash by? Mark

Hi, As it says on the tin, I want to know at what point the flow becomes restrictive on ZX fuel Filter, Anyone? Mark

Hi, On TT.net, they are removing the EGR system and blanking it off with a blank end from a plumbers merchants. They then use a couple of pennys and araldite them to the EGR holes on the underside of the plenum! They use an American brand of Metal Araldite, does anyone know of a British equivalent that would withstand the Heat tolerances involved! Mark

Hi, Bruce Ward kindly gave me a fan and fan clutch to pass on to anybody that wants it, it is for an NA, not suitable for a TT. Just send me a cheque for P+P, or pick it up and its yours! Mark

We could rig up a wagon with a cell in the back that had a stretcher, a ladder on top and a couple of extinguishers. We could always ask the villain/casualty to give us a hand putting the ladders up! where will this cost cutting end? We had a post a while ago talking about how society is going downhill, one of the reasons is the foundations of the cornerstones are being eroded by people out their only thinking of themselves. That is why education, health and public order are paramount to our overall well being and our future and as soon you start thinking about how much this will cost you have lost definitions for the Quality of Life! Gio, Just some pointers, The FF's Poster was wrong, Qualified FF's pay is 21,500 after 4 years and this continues for 15 years, not including payrises. Starting wage is 18-19000 depending on age. I visited a New York Fire Station this September and the guys there told me they are on after 5 years $ 45,000,not including OT, I did not ask about starting wage, they did think my wages were and I quote 'SHIT' Mark

Hi Kinace, You say I have not answered your questions yet within your posts I find few questions, but a lot of cliched rhetoric, lacking logic and Facts! You say that Firefighters are 'Morally Banqrupt', because they are, and you say 'risking people lives', this I find, sickens me. I am a graduate, and Post Graduate, I am also halfway through completing a Masters Degree, I joined the Fire Service as opposed to a definite job stock broking, because I wanted to contribute something back to society, as do many of my colleagues! I am striking because I find that the it morally repugnant that people who want to give something back to society, e.g. FireFighters, are having to raise their Families with Income Support because they qualify for it! So just because there are a lot of people who want to join the fire service, you should take advantage of their good nature and pay them shit money.Nice Morales Mate! The Government cut 30% of Fire aplliances in the last five years in London, this has been accompanied with a 30% RISE IN FIRE DEATHS, in the same period. Are they Morally Banqrupt! Here's a question to you. Why don't you disclose what you do all day in your office, what you earn and what you do to return something back to the society you live in. I sure hope you don't speed in your Z, because you are risking peoples lives and therefore Morally Banqrupt in your book. You quote from the Torygraph, about our pensions being great, yes they are WE PAY FOR THEM OUT OF OUR WAGES. You also quote that we have unparalleled job security, no we don't. If you have an accident or medical condition that affects your ability to fight fire you have lost your job, whereas most other jobs you be would still be fit to work in them. No you don't get your full pension either, only if you fall ill less than 3 years before you retire! You say Andy Gilchrist is furthering his political ambitions, I don't think he can go to any other job now! Strange though the MP's and Tony Blair must now be Scargalites, since they got a 40% pay rise! You compare FF's to the services, by which I presume you mean Armed services, why? Why not compare them to the Police? They risk their lives and are public servants they are paid a considerable amount more. You say we work a 4 day week, wrong, we work a 42 hour week. You forget that we work shifts and the working week does not apply. Shifts are 48 hours in total,averaged out over the year it equals to 42 hour week. Normal week workers get to see their families in the evening and spend the nights in their own bed. In fact 40-50% of Fire Fighters in London cannot afford to live in London and buy in Cheaper areas, they then commute 100's of miles and stay unofficially on the stations, missing from their wives and children 60% of the time, a receipe for divorce! You quote from the Telegraph that FF's are not trained In Paramedical skills. Paramedics and FF's are two sepaprate and professional jobs, requiring a vast amount of training,skills and knowledge. At emergencies all services have distinct and individual roles to fulfill, specialised to them. If you merge these two professional services you are diluting these two professional services and the public will suffer. Remember that if a fire appliance is on a medical call they are committed to that call, so if there is a fire on their area a neighbouring fire engine has to travel two or three times as far, to get there! The Government want to do this to save money, because the Ambulance service is underfunded. I was on the watch that attended the Soho Bomb, there were 3 dead and 15 amputess we waited 15 mins for the First ambulance to turn up. Why not make the Fire service Police Officers as well, we could save a bundle of dough.

Seems Like I am replying to people who don't want to bother reading the whole thread, and I am not gonna reprint old answers to people who can't read past the page three of The Sun!

TimBo, I wasn't getting all serious on you, I was referring to your motor!! LOL. Japcar , The older fireman are on the same pay, there is one more increment after 15years and that is it! Our pay increases have got smaller becuase they are linked to unrepresentative and inaccurate sections of the earning population, not because of inflation. A leading fireman earns £70 a month more than a fireman.for being responsible for a fire appliance and crew A Sub officer earns £100 a month more than a fireman.for being responsible for a whole station and crews. I cannot comment on areas income outside of London, I do not live there. Since there is a worry about negative inflation at the moment , that takes care of that argument. The house prices have been removed from the retail price index so you do not have worry about FF's pay shooting inflation up that way! Mark

Cheers Tim, I have never had a ship fire (middle of london), only trained on landlocked ships set alight for training. They are truly horrific, being made of steel it conducts the heat all around the ship so you cannot touch anything around you! I will make no further comments regarding a vehicles construction not being of metal, and the advantages of plastic vehicle construction!;) Mark

Hi, Well thanks for the response, just come back from the pub and I hope I can answer everybody's queries! Firstly thanks for the support and apologies to anyone who has suffered because of this action. I know of no Firefighters who want to take this action, but 90% voted that it is their only redress to this problem. OK it seems there has been a bit of misinformation spread about which I will try to address. The Mp's and Tony Blair received a substantial payrise a while ago which they gladly granted themselves. The unions and the employers of fire fighters employed the services of the same review board, which determined the Mp's pay. To complete a study to determine what firefighters should be paid. The two figures they came up with were £32k and £30k, the union chose to adopt the lower figure! This is where the figure of 30K or a 40% payrise has come from! Once again this board was good enough to determine MP's pay! By the way, if Firefighters had been granted the same percentage payrises as MP's over the last 25 years, the FireFighters pay would be 36K per Annum. Which Public Servants Last Payrise was over 40%? Ans= Tony Blair By the way, when you are buying your Zed, do you always offer the buyer the full asking price? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A few people have said, Fire Fighters know what they are getting into when they join! Yes they do or did, but the current pay formula was worked out in 1977 and related FF's pay to semiskilled workers, which is a dwindling workforce, and the dwindling manufacturing industry in which they mostly reside. The pay increases have been reducing over the last twenty years and that is why we have been trying to play catchup now. The employers have also acknowledged that the increase in the knowledge and skills have moved this to a skilled workers position and the pay should be reflected accordingly. The training and knowledge and working practices are infinite and keeping a lid upon this is very difficult! Secondly on this point, when most FF's join the job usually they are youngish, single and don't have any kids. These situations change, don't FF's deserve to be able to raise their children without claiming State support, which many do Now. And also to raise their children in some modicum of a financially stable environment!Why should FF's families suffer? By the way, FF's get paid a flat rate after 4 years of 21,500. With very little Overtime to enhance that, and no other enhancements apart from local weighting allowances of which mine in London is 3k ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ So why don't FF's leave their job and get a better paid one, some of you say, as I know when I joined, you had a 100 to 1 chance of getting in! The cost of recruiting and training the new FF's would definitely outweigh the economic benefits of paying them low wages. Secondly there is the question of experience, twenty year firefighters are often consulted by senior managers on how to resolve incidents, because they have seen it before! When I first entered a fire you fell the heat envelope you, you are shitting yourself because you honestly don't know hot it is going to get. Your ringpiece is dilating to the size of a HKS tailpipe and your mind is running around like a headless chicken! You get so hot sometimes the sweat trapped between your clothes turns to steam and burns you. But I got through this because a more experienced FF guides you calmly through it! Today I am that more experienced FF, which one would you rather have rescue your kids? One that is inexperienced, underpaid, demoralised and is so tired moon lighting his arse off to do his job properly? Or a properly paid professional? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yes we get a great Pension! Because FF's PAY for it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FF's shouldn't strike because it is Moral Blackmail! Who is blackmailing who? Are the Gov getting cheap workers by saying it is immoral for FF's to strike? But Continuing to underpay them! The last essex and merseyside strikes have been to save Fire engines from being cut, saving the publics lives. Hardly the actions of Selfish blackmailers! This is the second time in 100 years the FBU has existed that it has striked nationally! Andy Gilchrist has a poster of Che Guvara on his wall, big deal, he has done what the membership has voted for, not what he wants! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lastly John Newcombe if it came down to me or a Para giving you mouth to mouth, He gets my Vote. He Has trained for a 15 Second Lifespan:D Mark

EEEEEEEERRRRRRR dunno bob! I thought I recognised your motor Signor Kit Kat ;) Make sure your fuel lines are secure on your finger of four, you don't want that going up with the old green buckets on duty. LOL

Hi, Most people know that I work as a FireFighter and if anybody wants to ask me questions about the strike, feel free. The current state of play with a firefighter is that they clear £46 a day, most of my colleagues want to be able to afford to buy their own home and support their Families without relying on income support. I like many others have to depend upon other forms of income, (hence the reason why I can afford to run more than one car). If anybody wants to, feel free to contribute any wind ups, insults and other distractions to the real issue, LOL, I've got some Hope!! Mark

The only people who could tell if the car was designed to crumple like that would be the designers. To me it looks like a crumple zone because the car has absorbed the impact and left the passenger compartment intact. Also cars of that age were designed to pass front impact tests. She is indeed lucky, as a generalisation, when other cars hit each other they both cushion the blow via their crumple zones and also move to absorb the impact, touchwood. When they hit lamposts and trees, they don't move and so the car and occupants absorb all the impact! Mark

Most modern cars collapse like that, even when there is an engine at the front. I believe they design things like propshafts, engine mounts and most things around the passnger compartment to collapse/get out of the way. This absorbs the energy of the impact and hopefully leaves the passengers relatively unscathed! Mark

You can take a bloke through two sets of his Back Doors without his feet touching the ground! That is a strong member!!!!!!!!!!!!:D Mark

OI NEVER MIND 300ZX'S I'VE GOT A ROPEY OLD S13 TO SORT OUT:D

Sorry mate, Its not actually for me Zed, its for me S13 as it has got some sad cloth pieces masquerading as an interior! Mark

Hi, I have a set of standard turbos in my garage, and just wanted to know what can be done to them to make them go faster and protect them more? Mark

Hi, I know a few people have recovered their door panels in a sort of leather/ette material, and I wondered if anyone knew a source for the material from a series II car the black suedette stuff? All the Best, Mark

That has got to be the quickest Pizza delivery service, up North;) Mark

Cheers Mate

Looks Good Mate, Would like to see your spoiler in the flesh if you don't mind, are you planning to go to any meets soon, eg the Slough meet? Or if I am coming past your direction would you mind if I popped and had a gander? Mark

Hi Jez, Is that your car in the avatar, or did you pinch that picture! I have never seen a 2000 spoiler in the flesh, if I am right in thinking that is what it is! Mark

Hi Jeff, One thing that makes a difference is if it is manual or auto, since the rarity of UK Manuals makes them worth a bit more. I searched high and low for a decent UK manual and a good one for sale only comes up a few times a year! Mark