Chief Fire Officer Tweets about fun on 5-a-side pitch whilst firefighters fight to save their pensions.
The Fire Service are several weeks into an ongoing dispute about firefighter pensions. Chief Fire Officer Des Prichard tweeted that he spent last night having fun on a 5-a-side pitch, apparently with strike breakers.
In a series of Tweets posted during the hours when firefighters were striking to save their pensions, Des Prichard was making jokes about winning a game of football.
Simon Herbert, Chair of East Sussex FBU said: “His comments on a public forum during strike action were insensitive and totally inappropriate. This is a serious issue – we are fighting for our futures and that of our families. We are being asked to pay up to 14.2% of our pay into our pension scheme and work until we are 60, but if we lose fitness before that age, then we also lose our pensions – Des Prichard may think that’s a laughing matter, but firefighters don’t.”
Nancy Platts, Labour candidate for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven added: “I am disappointed that CFO Prichard saw fit to post such comments and pictures on Twitter in the full knowledge that they would be seen by firefighters. This is already a tense situation and all energies should be going into resolving the dispute. I hope that this was a lapse in judgement rather than designed to goad striking firefighters and that he will apologise.”
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