Hastings firefighter Joel Fraser (left) joins retired firefighter Allan Brown during the strike in Hastings. Photo / Michaela Gower
Hastings firefighter Joel Fraser (left) joins retired firefighter Allan Brown during the strike in Hastings. Photo / Michaela Gower
Napier and Hastings career firefighters walked off the job as part of a nationwide strike on Friday, refusing to fight fires and attend emergencies.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) have been negotiating a collective employment agreement for career firefighters for 15months, but have yet to come to an agreement.
From noon to 1pm, there were no fire call-outs in Hawke’s Bay, which was fortunate for the volunteer firefighters who had stepped into the emergency response role.
A total of 16 on-duty Hawke’s Bay staff, along with off-duty personnel, other union members, friends and family supported the Napier and Hastings strikes.
New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union Hawke’s Bay local secretary, national committee member and career firefighter Tony Adie said morale was the worst he had seen during his 30-year career as a firefighter, with truck breakdowns and gear failures, and he was saddened by the disengagement in the organisation.
“It’s a shame it’s come to this; it could have been stopped. This is the action we have to take to make them stand up and look at us.”
He said the next one-hour walk-off was planned for October 31.
Hastings firefighters Mal McQuade, Tony Adie, Willie Cochrane, and Mark Adie take part in the one-hour strike action in Hastings. Photo / Michaela Gower.
Retired firefighter Allan Brown joined the strike action at the Stortford Lodge roundabout.
He said he had been a firefighter for 27 years and worked in risk reduction, but resigned in May 2023 due to the uncertainty with Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the impact it was having on the vulnerable Hastings communities he protected.
He said he had seen the organisations work together in the past to come to an agreement and wanted to see it again.
“Our communities deserve better.”
Napier firefighters joins strike action on Friday.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand deputy national commander Megan Stiffler said they received calls for 18 incidents at the time of the strike action across the country, with 10 incidents in areas impacted by the strike.
Stiffler was disappointed the NZPFU rejected an offer of a 5.1% pay increase over the next three years, as well as increases to some allowances, and that it elected to withdraw labour, “compromising public safety”.
“We are disappointed that the NZPFU has issued a further strike notice for another one-hour strike at 12pm on October 31.
“I urge the NZPFU to withdraw this latest strike notice and not issue any more, so we can get back around the bargaining table while we wait for our application for facilitation to be considered.”
Stiffler said Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s goal had always been to reach a fair, sustainable, and reasonable settlement with NZPFU.
“We are bargaining in good faith and doing everything we can to achieve an agreement without disrupting the services communities rely on.”
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
