Heat rises with firefighters' strike action

All professional firefighters will go on strike for one hour twice a week, hoping that negotiations will begin soon.

This comes after last Wednesday, when the Employment Relations Authority found that Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) had breached its obligations to consult appropriately with the NZPFU and PSA.

The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) made an urgent application to FENZ in November after a 260-page document outlining budget cuts, which affected 700 roles and 150 positions planned for disestablishment.

Royal Oak firefighter, Wes Bereman, highlighted that they’re first-line responders, not just a fire service.

“We don't just go to fires, we go to everything. We go to CPR callouts, obviously car crashes, and we’ve assisted in suicides.

“I think that representation could be better, to have the public understand what we sort of do.”

He also called attention to the prominent health hazards within the industry.

“We advocate quite strongly for the health of our workers with presumptuous cancers. So, we’re in a job with more high risks than a lot of jobs out there”

He was also concerned about the ageing equipment, specifically the fire trucks.

“We’ve got a bit of a failing fleet… [our truck] is not a purpose truck; they do have problems with the pumps.”

On the 19^th of March, a Ponsonby mechanics shop next to a Z station was a good example of this, as the first truck that pulled up had an operational failure.

Acting Assistant Commander, Kenton Rusbridge, said the blaze was contained by 2.25 pm.

Bereman said that it’s hard to say if this incident has created more awareness for them.

“Hard to say, I’m hoping that we are. We don’t want to strike; we don't want to be in this position to walk off the job.”

On Monday, NZPFU sent a letter to Kerry Gregory, the Chief Executive of FENZ, expressing the need to resolve tensions.

“We request that FENZ Executive Leadership team and the NZPFU National Committee attend in a confidential forum to not only listen but hear the perspectives of each other.

The goal of this first step is to “work on the relationship [between groups] so that the big ticket items can be tackled constructively.”

FENZ proposed an ultimatum, offering 2 dates at the end of March to negotiate with all strike action stops.

“FENZ had proposed 30 and 31 March dates to the ERA…[but] it would not confirm its availability until the NZPFU had withdrawn all industrial action.”

Negotiations are hoped to be in the works soon.

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