MORE than 15,000 people have signed an online petition against plans for mass firefighter dismissals and a forced 12-hour shift system.

Staff from Leigh, Atherton and Hindley stations are among the thousands of firefighters across Greater Manchester who could be made to reapply for their jobs as part of the proposals.

Those who do not agree to the new shift system, which is set to be implemented in April, could lose their jobs.

A spokesman for the Fire Brigades Union said: "Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) managers are planning to sack all of its firefighters using section 188 of the Trade Union Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, then re-engage those who agree to a new 12-hour shift system.

"The whole process has begun with limited discussion and no agreement from Fire Brigades Union members – an estimated 95 per cent of all firefighters in Greater Manchester are members of the FBU.

"The proposed new arrangements mean that one in five firefighter posts will be slashed, 250 posts in total, with the remainder having worse conditions imposed on them.

"Firefighters would hardly see their families under the new 12-hour shift arrangements."

The FBU claims that 'figures released by GMFRS show an increase of 140 per cent in all rescues over the past 12 months, alongside an extremely worrying threefold increase in fire deaths' and that 'firefighters in the region are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of repeated cuts on public safety'.

Greater Manchester brigade secretary Gary Keary said: “We are staggered that GMFRS would jeopardise relations with its workforce in this aggressive way.

"To start the process for dismissing firefighters to then simply re-engage them on an unnegotiated contract is really appalling, and a serious breach of the agreed mechanisms for industrial relations in the UK fire and rescue service.

"We at the FBU will do everything we can to resolve what could turn into a bitter and damaging dispute, using agreed procedures.

"Since the notice of the sacking proposals was issued, we have been contacted by lots of angry FBU members. We will continue to consult with them regarding the best way forward.

"This is the third change to shift systems in Greater Manchester since 2006 – surely firefighters are entitled to some sort of stability in their working lives.”

The online petition opposing the plans gained 15,000 signatures in just two days.

Henry Cocker, from Leigh, said: “The move by GMFRS management cannot be in the best interests of the public of Greater Manchester."

Debbie Hulmes, from Tyldesley, added: “This proposal is terrible. Firefighters do a very brave job, they do not deserve this treatment.”

The proposals follow GMFRS being told by the Government it has to make cuts of £14.8 million over four years.

David Acton, chairman of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, said: “The scale of these cuts has left us with no alternative, and no change is not an option.

“Our ultimate aim is simple – to ensure as many fire engines as possible are available when we have the most incidents and are able to get to people as quickly as we can.

“To achieve this we are already taking a third of the cuts from senior management and the back office, but we have developed a new shift duty system for firefighters which changes from a day shift of 10-and-a-half hours and a night shift of 13-and-a-half hours to two equal shifts of 12 hours.

“This system saves almost £10 million while retaining 32 more firefighter jobs on the frontline than would be possible by trying to maintain our current system, providing up to 56 fire engines to our communities when they need them the most.

“We consulted on this and received no alternatives which would save the amount of money we need to cut.

“We have not issued notices to anyone at this stage and have no intention to make anyone redundant."

To sign the petition visit chn.ge/2cTUn2Z.