A firefighter says the strike is not just about pay. Photo / NZME
A firefighter says the strike is not just about pay. Photo / NZME
A Rotorua career firefighter set to walk off the job in two hour-long strikes says he and his colleagues were left with "no choice".
NZ Professional Firefighters Union members around New Zealand have voted to go on strike after rejecting the latest pay offer from Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ).
The one-hour strikes will take place between 11am and noon on August 19 and August 26. They include all career fire stations, training centres and 111 fire communications centres.
FENZ says the strike action is "disappointing" and that, while it has made contingency plans, there may be delays responding to some emergencies in some areas during the strike.
This will be the first time paid firefighters across the country will refuse to respond when their station sirens go off.
The union's industrial action up until now has largely been behind the scenes, involving limited training and no statistics gathering or reports for FENZ. It has been supported by the call-centre staff and volunteers.
Rotorua senior station officer and union secretary Des Chan said he and his fellow paid firefighters had "not made the decision lightly" in voting to stop work.
Chan, who has been a career firefighter for 35 years, said this was the first time he had decided to walk off the job.
In his view: "It's got to the point that we had no choice as the latest offer from Fenz may look good on paper to some civilians, but I don't believe it's a fair offer given our current working environment. Especially when you take into account the increasing demands on us to attend more traumatic events and the physical and mental toll it takes on us."
The union wants guaranteed mental health and wellbeing programmes that meet the needs of firefighters and ongoing access to psychological professionals.
Rotorua station's paid firefighters will walk off the job twice this month. Photo / Supplied
"This is not just about pay, it's very much about our health and safety, particularly our mental wellbeing. Lots of our staff are at breaking point.
"We need more staff, better equipment and resources, and greater support and I don't believe Fenz fully appreciates the hazards of our roles."
The World Health Organisation recently classified firefighting a Group 1A carcinogenic to humans – the highest rating for carcinogenic status.
Union national secretary Joanne "Wattie" Watson said about 94 per cent of members voted to stop work, which reflected the "gravity" of the situation.
Watson said the union was set to go back into mediation talks with Fenz on Wednesday and Thursday in the hope of a revised offer.
"This isn't simply about better pay, our members also want enforceable protections to ensure they are not only appropriately staffed and resourced to protect the community, and also have better safeguards against occupational cancers and more support in terms of the physical and mental wellbeing," she said.
Watson said the revised remuneration being offered by FENZ was not good enough, particularly for senior station officers who have "huge responsibilities" as well as facing the inherent dangers to life in their firefighting role.
"The pay offer is too low ... and FENZ has removed any offer to pay a base wage increase for 2021 and instead is offering to pay from July 1, 2022.
"It's essentially a three-year deal, and for a lot of our members for that three years that will be between 8 and 12 per cent."
In a written statement, Fire and Emergency deputy national commander Brendan Nally said it was disappointing the union was escalating strike action, despite receiving what he described as a "substantial" new pay offer that would see base salaries for all firefighters increase by between 8 and 19 per cent over the next two years.
Fire and Emergency NZ deputy national commander Brendan Nally. Photo / FENZ
"Normal pay progression, in addition to the general pay rises above, will also continue.
"Fire and Emergency has demonstrated it is fully committed to trying to reach a settlement with the union.
In his view: "After over 13 months of negotiations, involving 29 days of bargaining and three days of mediation, the union has not significantly moved from its original position."
"The [union] is still seeking total increases across both pay and allowances of more than 40 per cent for most firefighters."
During the two one-hour strikes FENZ would continue to respond to emergencies, but within areas served primarily by career firefighters, the response may be delayed, he said.
"For the rest of the country, volunteers from our 596 fire stations nationally will respond to emergencies as they do now and provide the services they are trained to do.
"I urge people to be vigilant for the duration of the two-hour-long strikes and not call 111 unless it's a genuine emergency."
He said part of the contingency planning included not responding to less serious incidents in career zones during the strike.
For example, this would include private fire alarms where there is no evidence of a fire, small rubbish fires or animal rescues.
"This will ensure our resources are focused where they are needed most."
St John had been notified career firefighters would not be able to respond to medical emergencies during the strikes.
He said FENZ expected a counter-proposal from the union when they returned to mediation on Wednesday.
"We remain committed to resolution at the bargaining table.
"I know all our firefighters care deeply about serving their communities and keeping people safe."
