Firefighters in England and Wales
announced today they plan a 4-hour strike to protest a proposal to raise their retirement age to 60 because raising the retirement age jeopardizes public safety. The firefighters' labor union, the
Fire Brigades Union, explained "It is ludicrous to expect firefighters to fight fires and rescue families in their late 50s - the lives of the general public and firefighters themselves will be endangered. None of us want a strike, but we cannot compromise on public and firefighter safety.” It will be the
first nationwide strike of firefighters in that country in a decade.
