Career Firefighters Strike For 60th Time With New Leader

Career firefighters in the south continue to strike twice a week, and today marks the 60th time they will stand on the street corner in Invercargill.

But there's been a new change of guard in the Southern branch of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) with Brent Wilson stepping in as interim spokesperson.

Station officer Aaron Ramsey has taken a step back after 18 years, but will continue to support the strike action when on duty.

Brent has been involved as a professional firefighter for 30 years - 19 in Invercargill and 11 in the Hutt Valley.

He is currently the vice-president of the Southern branch of NZPFU, and was part of the 50th protest, which evolved into a nationally co-ordinated event.

Southern fighters held a barbecue onsite at the station and around 50 career firefighters, along with off duty staff and even ex-members came in support.

Comments on the national NZPFU page leading up to today's strike action, say that attempts to divide them through individual agreements will not work, and their strength comes from unity.

"NZPFU members stand shoulder-to-shoulder, completely undivided in our fight for safe gear, proper staffing and genuine leadership."

FENZ management have called the ongoing strikes reckless and irresponsible, but union reps are asking for meaningful bargaining and resolution.

"After 60 strikes, this is no longer simply an industrial dispute. It is a failure of leadership, accountability, and responsibility," NZPFU said.

Firefighters have been working without a current collective agreement for over two years, and recently submitted a petition to Government with 50,000 signatures, calling for a greater inquiry into FENZ spending.

"We'd like to know where has all the money gone?" Brent said.

There is also a select committee inquiry, made up of MPs, that have been looking into the state of the aging vehicle fleet.

"We're waiting to see what the inquiry brings and what the findings are," Brent said.