Essex Fire Chiefs are urging UK firefighters, their unions and supporters to join a campaign to stop the government making changes to the fire service pension scheme which will see firefighters having to contribute more and receive less. Firefighters currently pay 11% of their salary towards their pension but government proposed changes will see the employee contribution rocket to over14%. The changes could see an exodus of skilled and highly trained firefighters and may well lead to nationwide strikes, having a negative impact on the service we deliver the public. The changes need to be better thought through - if only 10% of firefighters leave the scheme over the changes, any predicted savings will be completely wiped out. If more leave, the savings will become a multi-million pound cost to the taxpayer.