Rotorua paid firefighter 'gutted' to walk off the job, after latest employment offer rejected

Rotorua station senior firefighter and local PFU president Blair Trotman (left) and qualified firefighter Kane Tututa with messages posted on a fire truck. Photo / Supplied

Rotorua career firefighter Blair Trotman is "gutted" to be walking off the job today for the first time in his four 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 Kawerau, Taupō, and Tauranga 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 action is in protest against FENZ's current stance over the union's negotiations for better pay, more staff resources, better equipment, as well as more support.

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, in Rotorua and elsewhere in the country there will be no career firefighters responding to structure fires, car accidents and medical emergencies during the hour-long strike.

It will 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.

Trotman, who is also president of the Rotorua PFU, said, "this is a last resort action and by no means is our decision to strike being taken lightly.

"It's gutting as it this is certainly not something any firefighter wants to do as it's not part of our ethos of always being there to help our community whenever they need us.

"But our employer has really left us no choice. It's pretty disappointing when FENZ management continues to undervalue our staff in terms of what we are being offered.

"But isn't just about pay. We're extremely under-resourced, trucks break down on an almost daily basis, and we're asking for better working conditions and greater support.

"Our members are united in our view that if we do not strike now nothing will change.

"However, I'm also quite anxious that something very serious may happen while we are away from the station during the strike. I'm hoping further strikes won't be needed."

The firefighters will form a picket line on the corner of Biak St and Old Taupo Rd.

Trotman estimated about 35 career firefighters from Rotorua, along with their supporters including family and friends would participate in the "peaceful" protest.

There would be a second picket line adjacent to the national training centre near Rotorua Airport with a possible 50 to 60 trainees and trainers striking.

FENZ has said it had offered the striking firefighters a pay rise of between 8 per cent and 19 per cent over two years.

Joanne "Wattie" Watson, the national secretary of the NZ Professional Firefighters 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."

FENZ deputy national commander Brendan Nally. Photo / FENZ

FENZ deputy national commander Brendan Nally said it was "very disappointing" that 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 Employment Relations Authority 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 Employment Relations Authority for facilitated bargaining.

"We and the PFU 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 Authority."

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 there was the best chance of bringing the bargaining to 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."

Nally said the public should be vigilant during the strike.

"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."