LONDON (AP) -- Firefighters walked off the job for the fifth time in three months Saturday, starting a 48-hour strike in their bitter dispute over pay.
Military crews with outdated trucks and equipment stood in once again for the 55,000 striking firefighters, on call to respond to emergencies starting at 9 a.m.
It was the 14th day of walkouts since the dispute began last year -- strikes have lasted as little as 24 hours and as long as eight days.
Fire Brigades Union officials said there was no sign of a resolution and that the dispute could drag on for months more.
The union's general secretary Andy Gilchrist said future strikes were likely.
``We have been reasonable,'' he said at a rally of about 5,000 firefighters and their supporters in Glasgow, Scotland. ``But perhaps the time to be a little less reasonable is here.''
``As long firefighters and their representatives are treated with contempt, as long as we are not treated seriously, as long as we do not get the right to negotiate there will be strikes and there will be more strikes,'' he said.
Union leaders planned to meet with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott Monday before officially deciding whether to plan further strikes.
The union has demanded a 40 percent raise but has indicated its members would settle for less. Local government employers are offering an 11 percent pay hike in return for changes in working practices, which the union says would cost 4,500 jobs.
Prescott has threatened to use new legislation to impose a settlement.
Gilchrist complained Friday the dispute had been ``dogged by constant government intervention'' and accused ministers of blocking a possible 16 percent offer.
The union's executive committee is scheduled to meet again on Monday to discuss its next move.
