Here in the UK, the firefighters strike is coming to the fore again, and I've noticed something rather startling about the negotiations.
Let us brush aside the issue that firefighters really do have a rather cushy number [1], and instead concentrate on the so called Employer's Negotiator "John Ransford".
For this Mr Ransford sounds suspiciously like Andy Hamilton of Drop the Dead Donkey, The News Quiz and many other British tv and radio shows fame.
Has the dispute descended into such a farce that we now have a comedian negotiating on the employers behalf. Listen for yourself here. (in real audio foramt).
Still, with that fat old windbag of a joker negotiating on behalf of the Government, what choice did they really have?
[1] The shift pattern is archaic and cushy: two days, two nights, and then four full days off. Staffing is the same at night as during the day, even though there are far fewer fires. There are too many fire stations, and in the wrong places: chiefly in city centres, when they should have followed the population shift to the suburbs. Firemen have steadfastly refused to learn basic first aid, claiming that this is a job for the ambulance service. That costs lives and limbs every year. --Source The Economist 21st November 2002
