Firefighters set to vote on latest terms for revised shift patterns

South Yorkshire Fire Service has been locked in dispute with the Fire Brigades Union over its attempts to change shift timings.

Managers argue that the move would save 4m a year and bring the brigade into line with neighbouring services.

However, the FBU claims the move – with each shift lasting 12 hours instead of the current system of long nights and shorter days – would damage members' domestic lives and has fiercely refused to accept the change.

This has already led to a series of strikes and the threat to dismiss technically the entire workforce and then re-employ them on fresh contracts. Both sides later withdrew the threats to allow further negotiations.

Last week, they called in the joint national council (JNC), the industry's negotiating body. The council came up with a compromise of 13-hour night shifts and 10-hour days, along with a one-off cash payment of about 750.

But the FBU has now told fire service managers it must hold a postal ballot to check whether members want to accept the deal.

It is understood this decision has caused surprise within the brigade, which was expecting the ruling to be automatically accepted by both sides.

FBU regional secretary Ian Murray said yesterday: "It was not supposed to be binding. Both sides were seeking a binding decision. Acas can provide binding arbitration but only with agreed terms of reference."

This was not possible, he added, because they could not agree to let Acas as a third party determine some details.

"The joint national council only provided a conciliation service – not binding arbitration," he said.

Ballot forms will probably go out on Friday to more than 800 FBU members in south Yorkshire, 744 of them frontline firefighters.

The result should be known within two or three weeks.

"I do not have a clue what it will be. It will allow members to look at the proposal and make their own informed decision," Mr Murray added.

The FBU recommended a deal brokered by Acas in December but members rejected it in a ballot then.