There is one delegate at the TUC annual meeting who has stayed clear of cuts scare mongering espoused by the rest. Tony McGuirk, the chief officer of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service boldly stated that there were clear examples of waste in the public sector that could be cut and frontline services could improve because of it.
He said there was an "epidemic of failure to deal with poor attendance" in the public sector. At his Merseyside branch, he said he had managed to become more efficient by cutting the number of firemen from 1,550 to 850 since 1991. At the same time, fire-related deaths have dropped by 60 per cent, and injuries by 70 per cent as a result of running a fire prevention programme alongside the cuts.
Quite unsurprising the Fire Brigade Union launched a scathing attack on McGuirk statements yesterday. General Secretary Matt Wrack said:
That really is union hypocrisy at its best considering in 2008-09 Matt Wrack received a £115,804 remuneration package, placing him fourth in the top 10 of highest paid union bosses. And yet this handsomely paid union boss’s only response to the fire chief’s statements is to attack his high salary because he doesn’t espouse the same misinformed views as his own.
Wrack actually thinks that the public sector should not have bosses like McGuirk because he believes in rewarding good performance and getting rid of those who perform badly. But it is bosses like McGuirk, who know how to deliver more for less, that are needed for better public services- union dinosaurs like Wrack are definitely not. There is one delegate at the TUC annual meeting who has stayed clear of cuts scare mongering espoused by the rest. Tony McGuirk, the chief officer of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service boldly stated that there were clear examples of waste in the public sector that could be cut and frontline services could improve because of it.
He said there was an "epidemic of failure to deal with poor attendance" in the public sector. At his Merseyside branch, he said he had managed to become more efficient by cutting the number of firemen from 1,550 to 850 since 1991. At the same time, fire-related deaths have dropped by 60 per cent, and injuries by 70 per cent as a result of running a fire prevention programme alongside the cuts.
Quite unsurprising the Fire Brigade Union launched a scathing attack on McGuirk statements yesterday. General Secretary Matt Wrack said:
That really is union hypocrisy at its best considering in 2008-09 Matt Wrack received a £115,804 remuneration package, placing him fourth in the top 10 of highest paid union bosses. And yet this handsomely paid union boss’s only response to the fire chief’s statements is to attack his high salary because he doesn’t espouse the same misinformed views as his own.
Wrack actually thinks that the public sector should not have bosses like McGuirk because he believes in rewarding good performance and getting rid of those who perform badly. But it is bosses like McGuirk, who know how to deliver more for less, that are needed for better public services- union dinosaurs like Wrack are definitely not.
He said there was an "epidemic of failure to deal with poor attendance" in the public sector. At his Merseyside branch, he said he had managed to become more efficient by cutting the number of firemen from 1,550 to 850 since 1991. At the same time, fire-related deaths have dropped by 60 per cent, and injuries by 70 per cent as a result of running a fire prevention programme alongside the cuts.
Quite unsurprising the Fire Brigade Union launched a scathing attack on McGuirk statements yesterday. General Secretary Matt Wrack said:
“It’s very easy for people who do not risk their lives fighting fires to sneer at people who do. Mr McGuirk is among the highest paid fire chiefs in the country, getting more than £200,000 a year. He is massively overpaid. For that money we could get six fully trained firefighters, which would be a much better use of scarce resources.”
That really is union hypocrisy at its best considering in 2008-09 Matt Wrack received a £115,804 remuneration package, placing him fourth in the top 10 of highest paid union bosses. And yet this handsomely paid union boss’s only response to the fire chief’s statements is to attack his high salary because he doesn’t espouse the same misinformed views as his own.
Wrack actually thinks that the public sector should not have bosses like McGuirk because he believes in rewarding good performance and getting rid of those who perform badly. But it is bosses like McGuirk, who know how to deliver more for less, that are needed for better public services- union dinosaurs like Wrack are definitely not. There is one delegate at the TUC annual meeting who has stayed clear of cuts scare mongering espoused by the rest. Tony McGuirk, the chief officer of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service boldly stated that there were clear examples of waste in the public sector that could be cut and frontline services could improve because of it.
He said there was an "epidemic of failure to deal with poor attendance" in the public sector. At his Merseyside branch, he said he had managed to become more efficient by cutting the number of firemen from 1,550 to 850 since 1991. At the same time, fire-related deaths have dropped by 60 per cent, and injuries by 70 per cent as a result of running a fire prevention programme alongside the cuts.
Quite unsurprising the Fire Brigade Union launched a scathing attack on McGuirk statements yesterday. General Secretary Matt Wrack said:
“It’s very easy for people who do not risk their lives fighting fires to sneer at people who do. Mr McGuirk is among the highest paid fire chiefs in the country, getting more than £200,000 a year. He is massively overpaid. For that money we could get six fully trained firefighters, which would be a much better use of scarce resources.”
That really is union hypocrisy at its best considering in 2008-09 Matt Wrack received a £115,804 remuneration package, placing him fourth in the top 10 of highest paid union bosses. And yet this handsomely paid union boss’s only response to the fire chief’s statements is to attack his high salary because he doesn’t espouse the same misinformed views as his own.
Wrack actually thinks that the public sector should not have bosses like McGuirk because he believes in rewarding good performance and getting rid of those who perform badly. But it is bosses like McGuirk, who know how to deliver more for less, that are needed for better public services- union dinosaurs like Wrack are definitely not.