What the figures of the European Trade Union Confederation show
A reduction in the number of firefighters in 12 EU member states in 2023, including Cyprus, which recorded the second biggest fall, despite the increasing risk of fires due to climate change, shows an analysis by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), based data from the EU Labor Force Survey, recently presented by Eurostat.
According to the data, 362,400 firefighters were employed in the EU in 2023, an increase of 3,200 compared to 2022. However, despite this overall increase, there were decreases in the majority of countries for which data is available, including Cyprus, Greece and Italy.
These countries experienced huge fires that year, which was actually the second hottest in the history of Europe.
In Cyprus, a decrease of 561 firefighters was recorded in 2023 (1400 from 1961 in 2022), which corresponds to a decrease of 28.6%. The country with the biggest decrease was Lithuania (-50.1%) while in third place was Finland (-28%).
In a statement ETUC calls on the EU and member states not to worsen the situation by returning to austerity, recalling that recently the Commission initiated the “excessive deficit procedure” for a quarter of the member states, which carries the risk of pushing them into new cuts.
According to the European Trade Union Confederation, the EU must invest in making the transition to the green economy fair, in order to simultaneously create quality jobs and financially support public services.
ETUC is made up of 93 trade union organizations in 41 European countries, as well as 10 European trade union federations, representing around 45 million members.
According to the data, 2023 was the second consecutive year in which a decrease in the number of firefighters in Germany was recorded, Hungary, Romania and Sweden.
“Reducing the number of firefighters at a time when the climate crisis is increasing the risk of fires is not what is needed and is irresponsible,” ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said.
“These cuts endanger the safety of the public, the environment and the remaining firefighters, who are now expected to face more frequent and more severe fires with fewer resources and less rest,” he added.
The announcement also includes statements by the Secretary General of the European Public Service Union Confederation (EPSU), Jan-Willem Gudrian, who underlined that reducing the number of firefighters at a critical time, amid an increase in fires, puts workers at risk.
« Today firefighters are faced with fires even during the winter, as in Sweden. Something that has never been observed in the past”, he added, noting that despite promises to strengthen the staff, the opposite is happening.
