Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand
Fire and Emergency New Zealand received calls for 10 incidents between 12pm and 1pm today, Monday, 2 March, the fifteenth time the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) has taken strike action.
Of the 10 incidents, eight were in areas impacted by the strike.
Four of these were fire alarms which did not result in a fire.
One was a medical incident, to which Hato Hone St John responded as per existing contingency plans.
Two were small fires in a bin and a bush, and one was a motor vehicle crash.
Assistant National Commander Ken Cooper thanked Fire and Emergency’s 11,800 volunteers across the country, particularly those volunteers who were called to attend events in areas impacted by the strike.
“I would also like to thank our Operational Commanders and Communication Centre Managers who contributed to the response.”
Ken Cooper also thanked New Zealanders for their extra care during the strike hour.
“It is disappointing the NZPFU continues to escalate its industrial action while we are in facilitation.
“We’ve seen the devastating outcome of fires in Pakuranga and Northcote College in recent weeks during strikes by paid firefighters. The NZPFU continues to gamble with public safety each time they strike,” Ken Cooper says.
“Fire and Emergency has also been seeking an agreed process with NZPFU on how we can respond to emergency situations during these strikes. These NZPFU has rebuffed by these attempts.”
“Fire and Emergency and the NZPFU are currently in a process of facilitation with the Employment Relations Authority’s independent facilitator. We remain engaged with the process in good faith and believe it’s the best chance of coming to a positive sustainable outcome.
“Prior to facilitation, there was a huge gap between what we were offering and NZPFU’s expectations. Fire and Emergency’s offer at the time amounted to a 6.2 percent average increase over three years and compared favourably with equivalent recent public sector agreements, but this was three times less than the NZPFU’s settlement proposal.
“We believe our offer represented a fair and sustainable increase for our people. We continue to call on the NZPFU to call off its now twice-weekly strikes while the process of facilitation takes place. There is no point gambling with the public’s safety while we are engaged in this process,” Ken Cooper says.
“We remain committed to a fair, sustainable, and reasonable settlement with the NZPFU, so we can continue working to keep our communities safe.”
