Book of condolence for Paul Fletcher

A book of condolence for Paul Fletcher, who sadly passed away on Monday 24th August 2009 is now available here:

Book of Condolence for Paul Fletcher

Paul leaves his wife and two young children.

Related link:

http://www.iwfire.org/news/memorialtopaulfletcher.aspx

Paul Fletcher Memorial Fund

Tribute Paid to Isle of Wight Firefighter Paul Fletcher

Isle of Wight Council/Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service Press Release, 24/08/2009

The Isle of Wight’s Chief Fire Officer has paid tribute to Crew Manager Paul Fletcher who died in the early hours of this morning (Monday 24).

Father-of-two Mr Fletcher was pronounced dead at St Mary’s Hospital, Newport, shortly after attending a call to the nearby HM Prison, Isle of Wight, an incident which turned out to be a false alarm.

Chief Fire Officer Paul Street said Mr Fletcher, 39, of Newchurch, had been a credit to himself and the service since joining in April 2004.

“Paul cared passionately about the service and about serving Island residents,” Mr Street said.

“He distinguished himself in several areas notably training where his work was of such high quality that earlier this year he received the GO Union Learning Representative of the Year Award.

“In addition Paul played an active role in the rapid improvement of the service in recent years and was enthusiastic about continuing that improvement through the Model for Change Project.

“Paul was also very active and highly successful in working with the Fire Brigades Union nationally, regionally and locally starting as brigade secretary and moving on to the post of regional chairman.

“Paul will be sadly missed as both a colleague and a friend.”

Mr Fletcher joined the IW Fire and Rescue Service in April 2004 as a fire-fighter, having served previously with the police. He became a crew manager in May this year.

He leaves a wife Lisa and two children, a daughter of seven and a son of four.

Police, who are carrying out an investigation on behalf of the IW Coroner, confirmed that the death is not being treated as suspicious.

source: http://www.iwight.com/home/pressReleases/frmView.aspx?prId=788

Related links:

FBU Southern Region

Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service

Isle of Wight Council

Open letter from Union Leaders in Guardian for the Save Vestas campaign

An open letter from Union leaders was in the Guardian Newspaper, on Tuesday 4th August, for the Save Vestas Campaign:

Miliband should act to save Vestas

The Guardian, Tuesday 4 August 2009

We are seeking the urgent intervention of environment secretary Ed Miliband to save the Vestas wind turbine factory (Police asked to ensure the Vestas protesters receive enough food, 1 August). We know he is committed to promoting green energy, but people will find it difficult to understand that just as the government has recently set out its low-carbon transition plans to tackle climate change, England’s only large wind turbine manufacturing plant is scheduled to close. Ed Miliband has said he is committed to consulting people up until the Copenhagen climate change summit in December and that, in this context, “it isn’t just about world leaders, but about real people affected by huge changes who need to make their voices heard”. We would now urge him to listen to the voices of the Vestas workers. Here are 625 people who not only want to protect their jobs, but also protect England’s wind-power industry.

The loss of jobs at Vestas will not only have a devastating impact on the Isle of Wight, even more so at a time of recession, it will also mean an almost criminal loss of expertise and jobs that are vital to fighting climate change. We believe that with the political will, even at this late stage, there is still time to take positive action to explore all the options that are available to save the production of wind turbines at the site and secure jobs for the future.

Chris Baugh Deputy general secretary, PCS

Christine Blower General secretary, NUT

Brian Caton General secretary, POA

Bob Crow General secretary, RMT

Jeremy Dear General secretary, NUJ

Gerry Doherty General secretary, TSSA

Sally Hunt General secretary, UCU

Chris Kitchen General secretary, NUM

Michael Leahy General secretary, Community

Lesley Mercer Director of employment relations, CSP

Bob Monks General secretary, URTU

Gerry Morrissey General secretary, Bectu

John Smith General secretary, Musicians Union

Matt Wrack General secretary, FBU

Charles Ward General secretary, AEP

David Cockroft General secretary, ITF

 

Related links:

The Guardian

Save Vestas Campaign

Ed Milliband MP