Chief fire officer Phil New of Te Kūiti Volunteer Fire Brigade. FILE PHOTO
KING Country communities can be reassured their local volunteer firefighters will respond through union strike action due to start today. The United Fire Brigades’ Association (UFBA) is reassuring concerned members of the King Country community that their local firefighters will turn out as usual and protect the public during the employed firefighters union’s latest stop work action that starts today. The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU), which represents 1739 employed firefighters, has issued strike notices for four one-hour full stoppages of work from 11am to midday on November 4, 7, 11 and 14. Chief fire officer Phil New of Te Kūiti Volunteer Fire Brigade said: “We have been approached by worried members of the public who are concerned the strike action puts them at risk. “I can reassure the public that the fire services in Te Kūiti and surrounding areas are volunteer firefighters who are not part of the union action and will continue to turn out and protect the local public, property and the environment as usual.’ Volunteer firefighters make up 85% of New Zealand’s frontline fire services and are the first responders across 93% of New Zealand’s land mass. Funding for NZPFU claim cannot impact volunteers While the UFBA supports fair pay for employed firefighters and is keen to see the ongoing dispute settled as soon as possible, the UFBA is clear – significant funding to settle the claim must not come from funding needed to equip and train volunteers brigades, it must be new money for FENZ. UFBA board chair, Peter Dunne said: “While we respect the union’s role is to advocate for the terms and conditions of employment for employed firefighters as it sees fit, the costs to settle their industrial claim must not come from funding to support volunteers, either directly or indirectly. ‘New Zealand’s fire services are largely reliant on the goodwill of volunteer firefighters, their employers and their own businesses if they are self-employed. They risk their health and wellbeing for us all, and they deserve more support, not less.”
