Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand
Fire and Emergency New Zealand is urging the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) to call off its scheduled one-hour strike at midday this Friday 21 November.
“A full strike will impact public safety,” Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler says.
“Striking is unwarranted given we have our next meeting to discuss our application for facilitation with the Employment Relations Authority on 25 November, and we continue to engage with the NZPFU in good faith.
“We will answer 111 calls during the hour and respond to fires in strike affected areas, but our responses will be delayed because our callouts will have to be covered by volunteers.
Our dispatch system will respond volunteers from their own stations in their own trucks to help as they regularly do when there are multiple emergencies at one time, and it will take them longer.”
“We’re asking people and businesses in cities and towns primarily served by paid firefighters to remain extra careful.”
Businesses should take care with any work practices that could result in fire, and make sure their tenants understand their evacuation schemes and procedures,” she says.
“We are advising everyone that, should there be a fire, to evacuate early and, once out, stay out. Then call 111.
“People should also check their smoke alarms and their escape plans.”
“Community safety is of the utmost importance to us,” Megan Stiffler says.
As we did during the last one-hour strike on Friday 17 October, Fire and Emergency will prioritise emergencies and as a result may not respond to less serious incidents in cities and towns during the one-hour strike.
“For example, private fire alarms where there is no evidence of a fire, small rubbish fires, assisting traffic management, and animal rescues. This will ensure our resources are focused where they are needed most,” Megan Stiffler says.
“We have notified Hato Hone St John and Wellington Free Ambulance that, for the one-hour strike, our volunteer crews won’t be able to respond to medical calls outside their patch.”
“I want to reassure people that this strike action will not affect most of the country. The vast majority of communities are served by our more than 11,000 volunteers in nearly 600 stations across New Zealand who will respond as usual.”
Bargaining with the NZPFU:
Megan Stiffler says that on 3 November 2025, Fire and Emergency tabled a revised offer that included an increased pay offer, as well as several additional provisions focused on addressing some of the key elements of the NZPFU’s settlement proposal tabled earlier in September. The NZPFU rejected the offer outright.
“We again met with the NZPFU on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 November 2025 to discuss the costings of our different proposals.
“The NZPFU presented an alternative proposal which was three times the cost of Fire and Emergency’s 3 November 2025 offer, and well outside Fire and Emergency’s bargaining parameters,” she says.
Both parties acknowledged that they are still far apart, and bargaining concluded with the NZPFU confirming they will strike this Friday.
“We are deeply disappointed that the NZPFU has chosen to compromise public safety and go ahead with a one-hour strike on Friday, followed by another complete withdrawal of labour next week on Friday 28 November, all the while opposing the application for facilitation and the support that the Employment Relations Authority would provide to bargaining,” Megan Stiffler says.
“Any settlement must be sustainable, balance cost of living pressures being faced by individuals alongside fiscal pressures faced by Fire and Emergency and be consistent with the Government Workforce Policy Statement.”
“Regardless, we continue to work on ensuring we have sufficient staff. In addition, we anticipate delivering 78 new firefighting trucks by the end of this financial year.”
“Fire and Emergency’s goal is, and has always been, to reach a fair, sustainable, and reasonable settlement with the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union. We are bargaining in good faith and doing everything we can to achieve an agreement without disrupting the services communities rely on.”
Our application for facilitation will be heard by the Employment Relations Authority on 25 November 2025.
- Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union have been negotiating a collective employment agreement for career firefighters since 16 July 2024.
- Fire and Emergency has improved its original offer of a 5.1 percent pay increase over the next three years, as well as increases to some allowances.
- Fire and Emergency considers the offer is sustainable; balances cost of living pressures being faced by individuals alongside fiscal pressures faced by Fire and Emergency and is consistent with the Government Workforce Policy Statement.
- The previous 2022 collective employment agreement settlement provided a cumulative wage increase of up to 24 percent over a three-year period for career firefighters.
- Fire and Emergency has also been investing in replacing our fleet, with 317 trucks replaced since 2017 and another 78 on order. We are currently spending over $20 million per year on replacement trucks. There is also a significant programme of station upgrades underway, as well as investment in training.
- For the 2025/26 financial year Fire and Emergency’s operating budget is $857.9 million. Of that operating budget, 59 percent will be spent directly on the frontline, while another 32 percent is spent on frontline enablers. This means that over 90 percent of Fire and Emergency’s budget is spent on the frontline and the people directly supporting the frontline.
