Firefighters to walk off job in Napier and Hastings during strike

Daniel Nesbit (front) with other career firefighters at the Hastings Fire Station ahead of strike action on Friday. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay's two main fire stations will be without their professional firefighters for an hour on Friday during a planned strike.

A union representative and local firefighter, who has worked in the region for almost a decade, says he has never seen this action taken before but it is necessary.

NZ Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) Hawke's Bay representative Daniel Nesbit said an ageing fleet and a raft of other safety issues, including some staff working upward of 70 hours per week, needed to improve.

The walk off will take place between 11am and noon this Friday and next Friday at Hastings Fire Station and Napier Fire Station.

Fire and Emergency NZ says it will continue to respond to serious emergencies during the hour-long strike, but with likely delays.

NZPFU has planned the walk off which will be staged across the country to send a message to Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) regarding unsuccessful negotiations for a new collective agreement.

The vast majority of professional firefighters - also known as career firefighters - across the country are part of the union organising the walk off. The union also represents other workers such as support staff and trainers.

The union has been pushing for more firefighters, better equipment, better safety and mental health support, and better pay.

Firefighters around the country have been pushing for a new collective agreement. Photo / NZME

"Hawke's Bay has not been as affected as much as other regions across the country [with equipment problems]," Nesbit said.

"We have lost some modern fleet though.

"Currently, the Hastings rescue tender, which is the truck that carries all the rescue gear for car crashes and light rescues, I believe that truck is 25 years old."

He said they had a much newer rescue truck but it was taken off them a few years ago.

"Due to issues they had with the newest fleet it had to be taken off us and we have not seen it back for probably three years now.

"We have been using the old truck as a replacement."

He said they would love to see a better process for acquiring new fleet.

"You see long gaps in between one version and a new model coming in. They are not on a constant construction line.

"The process takes so long that we end up with an ageing fleet."

He said the walk off had followed unsuccessful negotiations around a new collective agreement.

"None of the career firefighters actually want to do this but we obviously want a fair contract.

"We are gravely concerned that the public is definitely going to be less protected during that hour that we are not there.

"The main things that we want to see are better mental health support, better health testing around carcinogenic workplace exposure, better equipment, better staffing, as well as a better pay."

He said, for example, it was not unusual for firefighters in Hastings or Napier to work long hours most weeks covering for staff who were sick or off, as there was no extra staffing cover.

"We do have staff here that are working 80-plus hours or 70-plus hours a week to cover over time.

"More staff just releases pressure on current staff to fill those holes."

FENZ deputy national commander Brendan Nally said they would continue to respond during the hour-long strike.

"During the hour of NZPFU strike action all 111 calls will be answered and we will continue to respond to emergencies – although there are likely to be delays due to significantly fewer firefighters and 111 dispatchers.

"Volunteers will respond from their own stations, in their own trucks, as they do every day when there are multiple emergencies at one time."

He claimed a new pay offer had been offered and knocked back "which would see all firefighters' pay increase by 8 to 19 per cent over two years".

He said like many organisations during Covid they did have issues with staffing at present but "we are working to address the shortage".

"We have also promised to discuss rostering and ratios of staffing with the union."

Hastings Fire Station and Napier Fire Station are manned 24 hours each day with eight career firefighters at each station at all times. All other stations in Hawke's Bay are operated by volunteers. Volunteers are not part of the union.