Firefighters' second jobs - 'There will be some jealousy and concern'

There is an understandable high regard for the firefighters who sometimes have to put their own lives on the line to protect others.

That has been evident in the public response to the News' campaign to win a posthumous gallantry award for Ewan Williamson, who died in a pub blaze last year.

That respect explains why there was disquiet when this newspaper revealed every firefighter has been asked to consider taking voluntary redundancy to help Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service hit its 5 million cuts target.

But our article today, revealing the number of local firefighters who hold down second jobs, will generate more negative feelings.

There will be jealousy that so many of them enjoy shift patterns which let them earn money from driving taxis or working as greenkeepers or nutritionist.

There will be concern, too, that if they have a second job they may be too tired to do their main - more important - one properly.

This all recalls the confrontations of the 2002/3 fire strike, which saw Richard Simpson resign as a government minister after being overheard calling the striking firemen "fascist b******s".

He was out of line, but his words spoke to concerns that the Fire Brigades Union was trying to protect cosy "Spanish practices" such as four days on/four days off shifts - while seeking a 39 per cent pay hike.

That strike ended in compromise, with a 16 per cent rise over three years, taking the average wage to around 25,000, but no firm commitment to modernisation.

It is clear from today's story that there is still work to do to give firefighters the wage which they deserve without them feeling the need to supplement their income.

We've got talent

THE stage is set - quite literally - for one of the best nights in Edinburgh, at the Assembly Rooms tomorrow evening.

With public voting ending today, the ten finalists in the Evening News Edinburgh's Got Talent competition have only the judges left to impress.

They'll have their work cut out if they are to top a fantastic show last November, when the inaugural contest was won by the Haughey McAuley Academy of Irish Dance.

There's another dance act, eight singers and a rock group this time around... break a leg everybody, and let's have some fun.