Homeworking Women. A Gender Justice Perspective, by Annie Delaney, Rosaria Burchielli, Shelley Marshall and Jane Tate. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon and New York, NY, 2018, 186 pp., ISBN: 978‐1‐783‐53532‐3, Price £34.99 paperback
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12505 |
| Author | Lorena Poblete |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
British Journal of Industrial Relations doi: 10.1111/bjir.12515
58:1 March 2020 0007–1080 pp. 224–238
BOOK REVIEWS
Fighting Fire: One Hundred Years of The Fire Brigades Union
The aim of this book is to celebrate the centenary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU)
focussing on the last three decades of that history. The research is of a quality which
cannot be overstated. This very much derives from, in particular, the responses of
the FBU members in their interviews, along with others associated with the UK’s
remarkable Fire and Rescue Service. In fact, it was in the Fire and RescueService Act
2004 that this title was introduced. This brought about changes in fire services’ duties
with extremely important consequences.
Regard to academic literature is also paid, especially that rooted in labour process
theory.In Chapter 1, the ‘book consciously privileges the testimonies of union activists
and members’ and ‘reflects the tradition of oral history’. This methodologylinks to that
of the History WorkshopMovement established by Raph Samuel whoreferred to this
approach as ‘history from below.’ The book is an exciting addition to thatliterature.
A consequence of this is that a dialectic, in the classical sense, permeates the book.
There havebeen other histories of the earlier times of the fire service which in retrospect
could be criticised on the grounds of being na¨
ıve about politics, perhaps sentimental
and personal. The authors advise that at least such histories provide many useful
facts, adding continuity and need to be read in that spirit. However, some of the
academic literature cannot be treated with such leniency, often reflecting a lack of
quality research.
The readers are reminded of the fact that firefighters’ work takes place within a
powerful political context, easilydemonstrated by a lack of proper perspective leading,
in the period under consideration, to serious disasters. Some of this is linked to
notions of austerity, but also to notions of free market economies where health and
safety requirements become classified as restrictivebureaucracy. The splitting up of the
railway industry during the John Major period of Tory Leadership in the 1990s had
serious consequences. This was done in the name of privatisation and the generation
of competition. Safety became a major issue following rail crashes leading to deaths
and injuries in 2000 and 2002 as a result of flaws in post-privatisation maintenance
regimes by cost cutting and dangerouscompetitive manoeuvres by the privately owned
companies. The Grenfell Tower block fire of 1917, which caused 72 deaths, and many
injuries horrified people throughout the world.
The above, and many other incidents,have taught FBU members thatpolitics should
not be about greed and personal ambition. They work in a dangeroustrade and learn
the consequences of this via what they see and by pressure from colleagues. This is
rooted in the recognition that they, and the public, deserve a disciplined service. This
message is reinforced by the FBU rulebook with its statement that its members are
C
2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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