Firefighters threaten strike over weighty issue

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - British firefighters have threatened to go on strike after bosses fired a veteran Scottish colleague for being overweight.

Fire Brigades Union branch secretary Alan Paterson said that 22-year veteran Kevin Ogilvie should have been reassigned to other duties after he was found to be too heavy to fight fires. The union has decided to hold a ballot for strike action.

"Our members have taken action because they deem that sanction far too severe. The man hasn't committed any crime," Paterson told Reuters.

"After 22 years service they've deemed him unfit for operational duties, so rather than redeploy him to a support department they've taken the easier action of just sacking him," Paterson said.

Peter Murray, Assistant Chief Fire Officer in Aberdeen, said the service would not create a new job for a firefighter who was unfit to put out fires.

"The standards are pretty clear. We've got gyms in every one of our stations," he said.

"Any individual who has the ability to remain fit and chooses not to, then clearly the fitness policy is designed to protect the organization and the individual himself."

Neither the employer nor the union would say how much Ogilvie weighs.

(Editing by Bate Felix and Paul Casciato)