STATEMENT on Bolton student residence fire

STATEMENT  by GREATER MANCHESTER

TRADE UNION COUNCIL EXECUTIVE  

– Saturday 23^rd November, 2019

THE meeting of the Greater Manchester Association of TUCs [GMATUC] Executive (Saturday 23^rd November, 2019), was the first opportunity after the Bolton student residence fire to support the FBU statement (16^th November) and the Bolton TUC statement condemning the ‘complete failure’ of the UK fire safety system and relieved that no one was killed.

The fire at The Cube student residence was a disaster that should never have happened.

Along with Bolton TUC there are two points we want to make:

First, there is the question of flammable cladding and the unacceptable delay in enforcing the removal of all flammable cladding in all buildings, following the Grenfell tragedy.

The second point we want to make [the public aware of our] concerns of cuts to the Greater Manchester fire services. The fantastic response of fire fighters to the conflagration at The Cube would have been less effective if the proposed cuts across Greater Manchester had taken place. All cuts to fire services must be shelved.

Stefan Cholewka the GMATUC secretary said: “GM Mayor Andy Burnham on TV said that the building was red flagged previously as it did not conform fully to fire safety regulations even though it was not classified as a high rise. However, he still proposes to go ahead with additional Greater Manchester fire service cuts… Thankfully, Greater Manchester fire service had learned lessons from Grenfell and swiftly evaluated the building with the help of a students residents committee. It seems that everyone is learning lessons from the Grenfell tragedy EXEPT Andy Burnham!”.

…We fully support Les Skarratts, FBU North West executive council member, when he said: "Greater Manchester has lost more than 600 fire fighters since 2010 alone and, alarmingly, Andy Burnham is trying to cut another six fire engines, including one in Bolton. 
"We need to stop the senseless cuts to our fire and rescue service before we see another awful incident like this.”

**************************