Invercargill firefighters will join others around the country by walking off the job on Friday October 17.
Members of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) will be stopping work for one hour, from 12pm to 1pm. - for the second time in three years.
In August, (NZPFU) started nationwide industrial action after negotiations for a collective agreement with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) failed.
Invercargill station officer and union representative Aaron Ramsey said he can’t understand how an organisation can be so poorly run and not have the government saying,” what are we getting for $850 million. Who is responsible for this mess?”
When urban and rural fire agencies joined back in 2017 to form FENZ, the joint budget increased from $450 million to $850 million.
Then in 2022, career firefighters successfully negotiated 23% pay increases after striking, but say there are still system failures and false promises.
Aaron said the country’s aging fleet is an example of how FENZ was still cutting corners - Invercargill’s only aerial firetruck with a ladder on the roof - built in 2015, is heading to Christchurch and they’ll receive one that’s 20 years old in return.
FENZ also introduced a ‘unified uniform’ project back in 2022, but Aaron said all they have to show for it is a soft-shell jacket, a bucket hat and a pair of socks.
“And then they spend $20 million on a payroll system that they walked away from,” he said.
Aaron has been a career firefighter since 2001 and station officer since 2008, and says while he loves his job, “I despise who I work for.”
“They keep saying they are about their people but there is no proof of that.”
He’s encouraging people to join them in their strike on Friday, to meet at the Invercargill station at midday, where they will be wearing their ‘Dire Emergency’ t-shirts and once again covering their fire trucks in big slogans to draw attention to their situation.
Fenz deputy national commander Megan Stiffler said the withdrawal of work would be felt in large cities and towns all over the country.
"The action being taken by the NZPFU will also impact our fire communication centres, which will have limited staffing during this time. It is anticipated that calls ... will take longer to be answered."
St John had also been notified that volunteer crews would not be responding to medical calls outside their local areas as they would be covering for city stations with firefighters on strike.
"There will be delays as our volunteer crews will have to travel from further away," she said.
She warned the public to "be careful" and not to call 111 and ask for Fenz unless it was a genuine emergency.
https://whatsoninvers.nz/fenz-firefighters-optimistic-but-warn-its-not-over-yet/