Firefighters to give PM an earful over wages

Upset firefighters plan to protest at the opening of a new $4.9 million fire station in Auckland this week over the lack of a pay rise.

Up to 200 union members will demonstrate outside the new facility in Mt Roskill around noon on Friday, when Prime Minister John Key will officiate at the opening.

The Auckland president of the Professional Firefighters Union, Jeff McCulloch, said the move was to demonstrate to the Fire Service and the PM the discrepancies the service had over pay.

"They'll buy a flash new fire house and won't give us a pay rise or spend the money on the things that we think they should be," Mr McCulloch said.

"We're quite disappointed about the financial side of things."

He said the union raised pay issues last month and was told that the Government had refused any claims for a raise in wages or conditions of employment of firefighters.

Many firefighters in the Auckland region felt the $4.9 million spent on the new Mt Roskill station was excessive, Mr McCulloch said, and it was money that could have been better used in other areas needing it.

"To spend that kind of money on a five-room fire house is not on."

Mr McCulloch said it was pitiful that Auckland had only two specialised aerial appliances - large fire trucks with ladders.

In other developed countries, there were at least eight such appliances for a city the size of Auckland.

There had been some occasions when fire appliances from other areas, such as Hamilton, had had to be brought in because there were not enough fire engines in Auckland.

One of the region's fire trucks was almost 30 years old.

"For a new engine, it costs around $2 million. That [$4.9 million] could have got us two new trucks."