Firefighters in St James, along with their colleagues across the island, carried out industrial action on Thursday to press home demands of the Jamaica Fire Brigade hierarchy to remedy some issues that they deem as outstanding.
Armed with placards, the firefighters gathered at the gate of the fire station in Freeport, Montego Bay, in protest, demanding resolution to the problems that they are facing. The firefighters say they are fed up with issues surrounding retroactive monies stemming from the current wage period. They say that the JFB continues to renege on agreements on how payments are made in terms of the retroactive monies since March.
The overlapping of pay scales within the ranks since 2015, issues with call out allowance and also the matter of promotions with the Brigade are some of their grouses. However, they also pointed out that the issue of the living conditions is always fresh in the back of their minds as each time it rains, the station yard in Freeport becomes inundated and that is the reality for them.
Firefighters also took industrial action in other parishes in the West to include Trelawny, Hanover, Westmoreland and St Elizabeth.
The firefighters are hoping that a meeting planned for today will put these issues to bed.
Speaking to one firefighter he highlighted that the workers think that the administration does not care about their welfare and will treat them in any manner that they want. They hope that the administration of the Fire Brigade will realize that they are serious and will work to correct the problems especially with that of the payroll which they say has been happening now for a number of years.