Tension as Estall refuses to sign deal

By Eugene Bingham

Fire Service Commission chief Roger Estall is demanding changes to a deal that could have ended the bitter dispute between firefighters and their employers.

Hammered out in secret by union negotiators and the Fire Service chief executive, Jean Martin, the deal would have maintained staff numbers at present levels and kept crew levels on fire engines at four, not three.

It also addressed other safety concerns the union objected to and provided for the first pay rise in eight years.

But Mr Estall is understood to want changes, including insisting staff be available for fire safety work when they are not battling blazes.

Mr Estall would not comment yesterday but his refusal to sign off the agreement is believed to have caused tension within the service management and between it and the commission, which oversees it.

It prompted further calls yesterday from the Alliance and the United Party for Mr Estall to be dumped.

Alliance MP Grant Gillon, a former firefighter, issued a press release headed "Roger Obstacle must go," while United's Peter Dunne, who formerly oversaw the service as Minister of Internal Affairs, said Mr Estall was unfit for the job and always had been.

Mr Dunne said the Minister of Internal Affairs, Jack Elder, must either dismiss Mr Estall or rein in his lust for power.

Mr Elder said it was a matter for the service and the State Services Commission to deal with.

The union has been at loggerheads with the service over its restructuring plans for most of this decade.

The relationship deteriorated further last year when the commission tried to sack all 1600 firefighters and make them re-apply for 300 fewer jobs - a move the union challenged successfully in court.

It is understood the deal now in front of the commission would mean no further job losses and the crewing issue would be put on hold while further studies were carried out into the safety implications.

Community safety team members, who the union believed were appointed to undermine work conditions of existing firefighters, would also be put on the same collective employment contract as professional firefighters, which could mean boosts to their pay and conditions.

Mrs Martin yesterday described the accord as a significant first step, but not the ultimate goal.

The secretary of the Professional Firefighters Union, Derek Best, said he would not give details until members got them but it "addresses and assesses all the matters that have been in dispute for a long time now."

Neither he nor Mrs Martin would discuss reasons for the hold-up.

However, in a recent speech, Mr Estall said the commission was considering the draft closely but the process could not be hurried.