However, he took an interest in the welfare of his fellow firemen and particularly of the wartime members of the Auxiliary Fire Service, whose conditions were often extremely poor.
On 5 November 1940, Greenfield wrote to John Horner, General Secretary of the FBU, informing him of these conditions and enclosing 28 membership application forms from members of the AFS.
The case, described as "unique in legal history",[1] was heard in Manchester County Court on 26 February 1941 before Judge Thomas Bowes Leigh.
Dingle made much of the fact that Greenfield had headed his letter "Dear Comrade", implying that this showed communist sympathies.
The Greenfield case strengthened the rights to join a trade union and was one of the final nails in the coffin of the system of police-controlled fire brigades.