Career firefighter and Tauranga Professional Firefighters Union president Karne Gough. Photo / Supplied
Career firefighter and Tauranga Professional Firefighters Union president Karne Gough. Photo / Supplied
A Tauranga firefighter says he is "gutted" to walk off the job today for the first time in his 11 years in the profession.
Pending a last-minute agreement between Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and the NZ Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU), paid firefighters across the country will strike for an hour between 11am and noon.
That includes those from Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and Greerton stations, as well as training centres and 111 fire communications centres.
FENZ has said it is disappointed in the industrial action and has asked the union to make a joint application to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) for facilitated bargaining — and to withdraw their current strike notices.
The strike is to protest FENZ's current stance over the union's negotiations for better pay, more staff resources, better equipment, as well as more support.
Firefighter Karne Gough will be one of about 40 career firefighters on duty along with off-duty staff, supporters, and non-frontline volunteers, who would be on the picket line.
"I feel so gutted that our collective employment negotiations with our employer FENZ have got to this point after more than 12 months of bargaining to reach a fair settlement.
"This is certainly not something any firefighter wants to do as it's part of our ethos to be there to help the community whenever they need us.
"I also feel angry that we have been put in the position by FENZ to have to apologise to the community for taking industrial action, but our employer really left us no choice.
"I fear there is the possibility that something very serious could happen while we are away from the station for that hour-long strike, he said.
Gough is also the local president of the NZ Professional Firefighters Union (PFU). He said once he and the other paid firefighters walked off the station they will congregate near the ANZ building on the corner of Elizabeth St and Cameron Rd, and will be wearing their union t-shirts and waving placards.
He expected about 40 career firefighters and as many off-duty staff as can be there, plus supporters, including non-frontline volunteers, to be on the picket line.
"This isn't merely about our pay ... our members are united in their view that if we don't strike nothing will change. But we are hoping after today, further strike action won't be needed."
The striking staff will not be responding to incidents and a reduced number of people will be available to take calls, leaving volunteer firefighters and FENZ executive officers to respond to 111 emergencies.
In other words, there will be no career firefighters responding to structure fires, car accidents and medical emergencies during the hour-long strike.
The industrial action includes all career fire station staff, training centres and 111 fire communications centres.
It would be the first time paid firefighters across the country would refuse to respond when their station sirens go off. Another hour-long strike is also planned for August 26.
FENZ has said it had offered the striking firefighters a pay rise of between eight per cent and 19 per cent over two years.
Joanne "Wattie" Watson, the national secretary of the NZ Professional Fire Fighters Union. Photo / Supplied
The union's national secretary Joanne Watson said it was not enough and members' decision to strike was not just about money but about appropriate resourcing to protect the community, safer systems of work and better working conditions.
Last Wednesday, the union presented an amended set of claims which they said "significantly reduced" the overall cost of claims but FENZ had yet to respond to the union's revised claim, she said.
"The PFU has not walked away from the bargaining, but FENZ's lack of urgency or desire to keep working towards a resolution has left us no option but to proceed this Friday.
"This is not a battle focused on wages. This is a fight for appropriate resourcing to protect the community and safe systems of work."
Paid firefighters from Rotorua, Kawerau and Taupo stations will also take strike action.
Fire and Emergency NZ deputy national commander Brendan Nally. Photo / FENZ
FENZ deputy national commander Brendan Nally said it was "very disappointing" the union was going ahead with the strike, despite the chance to call it off and get help to bring industrial bargaining to a conclusion.
"We asked NZPFU to make a joint application to the ERA for facilitated bargaining - and to withdraw their current strike notices while this went ahead.
"Disappointingly, the NZPFU has not responded to either of our requests.
"Instead they have issued further strike notices for two more one-hour full work stoppages on September 2 and 9. We are therefore making our own application to the ERA for facilitated bargaining.
"We and the NZPFU have been bargaining in good faith for more than 12 months for a new collective agreement. This has included mediation over the last four weeks, but we remain a significant distance apart. Mediation has effectively broken down and we've reached an impasse.
"We believe both parties will be unable to make further progress in the bargaining, without the assistance of the ERA.
Nally said FENZ believed bringing in an independent third party to make recommendations was the right thing to do to bring an "objective lens" to the situation and ensure that there was the best chance of a conclusion.
"In the meantime, Fire and Emergency will continue to make best efforts to manage the impacts of strike action in a way that minimises the risk to our people and the communities we serve," he said.
"There will be delays and we have significantly fewer firefighters available during the period of the strike," he said.
Nally said the public should be vigilant during the strike and he was "deeply concerned" about the risk to the public.
"Volunteers from almost 600 fire stations nationwide would respond to emergencies as they do now, as will executive officers."
"Part of our contingency planning includes not responding to less serious incidents in career zones during the hour of the strike, such as small rubbish fires, medical emergencies and private fire alarms," he said.
