Firefighters union votes to strike across the country
Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Firefighters across the country have announced they will strike.
On Wednesday evening, the NZ Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) confirmed members had voted to reject Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s offer to settle the collective agreement.
NZPFU earlier said staffing levels for career firefighters were at a “crisis level” throughout Auckland, resulting in trucks being out of commission.
Martin Campbell, the union’s Auckland local secretary, said the city needed 90 career firefighters over and above current numbers to meet demand.
**READ MORE:
* 90 more career firefighters needed to solve staffing issues, union says
* 11 fire stations in Auckland closed or short staffed on Saturday
* Fire truck shortage: Dozens of new chassis sit idle for a year amid cracking woes
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Campbell said Fire and Emergency had no plan to review staffing, “nor have they reviewed current numbers since the 80s and early 90s”.
When a fire truck is unavailable, the fire stations either close for the day or Fire and Emergency sends a fire truck from another suburb to respond to emergencies, which Campbell said comes with “significant” risks.
Fire and Emergency chief executive Kerry Gregory said he was surprised that firefighters who are so committed to serving their communities are considering taking strike action, where they could put people and property at risk.
“I’m extremely disappointed that the union has rejected our offer which was a fair offer, in line with public service guidance.”
The union had not formally notified Fire and Emergency that the offer has been rejected yet, he said, neither have we received any formal notice of any form of industrial action.
“We will be carefully considering the approach we take to keep the public safe during this time by initiating our contingency plans.”
On Wednesday night, Campbell confirmed strike action would be happening nationwide, but more information would be available on Thursday.