COULD I express my concern over the arguments Cllr Walker uses to undermine firefighters' terms and conditions.

He uses cleaners and canteen staff pay within Wigan MBC as a comparison to firefighters' pay. No doubt the cleaners and canteen staff, along with other low paid workers with WMBC do a very good job (and may I remind Cllr Walker that it is within the council's power to end low pay for its employees), but to use low paid workers as a lever to cut other workers' pay is abhorrent and certainly not what I would expect of a Labour councillor.

Surely it has not escaped Cllr Walker's attention that firefighters cover 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and don't know when they may be killed or injured.

I think £400 is low pay for such a service, and his arguments about dental and prescription charges seem to be penny pinching. Oh, I almost forgot, wasn't it Labour Party policy in the not too distant past for free prescription and dental charges. Maybe if the Labour Party pursued these policies it would save the authority £98,000 per year and the cleaning and canteen staff would also benefit.

If Cllr Walker's comparison is to be taken seriously he should compare like with like. I suggest he looks to the EEC for a just comparison. I think if he did so he would conclude that the people of Greater Manchester Fire Authority get good value for money out of our firefighters.

As a footnote, many workers in the community get perks from their employers, eg. retail workers get discounts on goods, transport workers get free travel and car workers get discounts on new cars, oh, and don't councillors get free meals of an evening plus expenses?

G. Jones

Tavistock Road

Hindley Green

Editor's note: COUNCILLORS do not get free meals after evening committee meetings. The cost is taken out of their allowances, irrespective of eating the meal.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.