Kerre Woodham: Give the firefighters a pay bump

More than 11,500 allied health staff —the physios, the social workers, the health assistants— will strike on the 23rd of October, later this month. The same day as tens of thousands of primary school teachers and workers go on strike. And a week before, well, six days before, firefighters across New Zealand are set to strike over a dispute about pay and conditions (tell me there's a centre-right government in office without telling me). Although, bless, the firefighters are already striking for an hour because of public safety concerns.  

New Zealand has about 13,500 firefighters – 2000 of the Professional Firefighters Union members are striking, and more than 11,000 volunteers, mostly in rural and smaller areas, will continue to support their communities and respond as needed.  

We've covered a lot of the grievances of the health and education workers who are striking, but we haven't touched on the fireys – why are they striking? Thank you for asking, I can tell you. The NZPFU, the Professional Firefighters Union, said firefighters hadn't received a pay increase since July 2023. And they wanted progress in pay, staffing, and resources. They say the lack of staff, working excessive overtime, and the dire state of appliances are all factors in the level and intensity of mental health issues for members.  

Furthermore, they say, Fire and Emergency New Zealand has refused to provide funding for health, well-being, and fitness activities, despite the wealth of evidence that demonstrates the link between healthy living and better mental health. I'm kind of with you on the pay and the appliances – paying for the Pilates memberships, not so much. Fire and Emergency and the Professional Firefighters Union had been negotiating since July 24. Fire and Emergency says the offer of a 5.1% pay increase over the next three years was sustainable, balances cost of living pressures being faced by individuals, alongside the fiscal pressure being faced by Fire and Emergency.  

So, at the moment, everybody's grumpy. Everybody wants things to get better. Everybody's sick of doing it tough. Everybody wants more money. Block of cheese in the groceries would be nice once a week.  

In the case of the firefighters, I think their complaints about the dire state of appliances is fair enough. You've got to have the equipment to do your job. And when you've got the kind of numptiness that they're facing, you can understand the exasperation. The country's newest fire trucks can't be used at rescues because they're too small to fit all the life-saving gear they need to carry. Shades of the Tasmanian ferry that was built that couldn't fit the terminal – doesn't need anybody to get the tape measure out first?  

Firefighters say managers have even talked about cutting holes in them to make room for the gear. Fire and Emergency, in a massive piece of understatement, says yes, well, the situation's not ideal, but we're working on a solution.  

Fire and Emergency spent millions of dollars and five years shipping the 28 medium-sized fire trucks to Britain to get them fitted out. They've now returned, and the two trial runs at packing gear on them last month did not go well. According to the firefighters who put the refitted appliances through their paces, the trucks would be a lot better than the existing trucks if all they were doing was pumping water. They're very good at pumping water – better than the old trucks. But 11 of the 28 trucks are meant to be rescue tenders equipped with a broad range of gear for fire rescues, car crashes, and storms.  

Firefighters are so much more than firefighters. They are attending all sorts of rescues, and they need the equipment to keep members of the public safe and themselves safe. I do not think this is unreasonable. And imagine how much the person is paid who made the decision to send the fire appliances to Britain to get them fitted out, who didn't get the tape measure. You know, I'd be a bit brassed off if I was a firefighter too. On that alone, I'd say give the guys and girls a pay bump. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerrywood and Mornings podcast from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be more than an eleven a half thousand allied
health staff, the physios, the social workers, the health assistants
will strike on the twenty third of October later this month,
the same day as tens of thousands of primary school
teachers and workers go and strike, and a week before,

(00:31):
well six days before, firefighters across New Zealand are set
to strike over a dispute about paying conditions. Tell me
there's a center right government in office. Without telling me,
although blessed, the firefighters already striking for an hour because
of public safety concerns. New Zealand has about thirteen and
a half thousand firefighters, two thousand of the Professional Firefighters'

(00:56):
Union members are striking, and more than eleven thousand volunteers,
mostly in rural and smaller areas, will continue to support
their communities and respond as needed. We've covered a lot
of the grievances of the health and education workers who
are striking, but we haven't touched on the fieries. Why
are they striking? Thank you for asking, I can tell

(01:19):
you the NZPF you, the Professional Firefighters Union said firefighters
hadn't received a pay increase since July twenty twenty three,
and they wanted progress in pay, staffing and resources. They
say the lack of staff working excessive over time, the
dire state of appliances are all factors in the level

(01:41):
and intensity of mental health issues for members. Furthermore, they
say Fire and Emergency in New Zealand has refused to
provide funding for health, well being and fitness activities, despite
the wealth of evidence that demonstrates the link between healthy
living and better mental health. I'm kind of with you

(02:05):
on the pay and their apply answers paying for your
pilates memberships not so much, they go on. Fire and
Emergency and the Professional Firefighters Union had been negotiating since
July twenty four. Fenn says the offer of a five
point one pay increase over the next three years was

(02:25):
sustainable balances cost of living pressures being faced by individuals
alongside the fiscal pressure being faced by Fire and Emergency.
So at the moment, everybody's grumpy, everybody wants things to
get better, everybody's sick of doing it tough, everybody wants

(02:46):
more money. Block of cheese and the groceries would be
nice once a week, and the case of the firefighters,
I think their complaints about the dire state of appliances
is fair enough. You've got to have the equipment to
do your job, and when you've got the kind of
numptiness that they are facing, you can understand the exasperation.

(03:11):
The country's newest fire trucks can't be used at rescues
because they're too small to fit all the life saving
gear they need to carry. Shades of the Tasmanian ferry
that was built that couldn't fit the terminal. Does it
need a really get the tape measure out first? Firefighters say.
Managers have even talked about cutting holes in them to

(03:32):
make room for the gear. Fens and a massive piece
of understatement says yes, well, the situation's not ideal, but
we're working on a solution. Fens spent millions of dollars
and five years shipping the twenty eight medium sized fire
trucks to Britain to get them fitted out. They've now

(03:53):
returned and the two trial runs at packing gear on
them last month did not go well. According to the
firefighters who put the refitted appliances through their paces, the
trucks would be a lot better than the existing trucks
if all they were doing was pumping water. They're very
good at pumping water, better than the old trucks. But

(04:16):
eleven of the twenty eight trucks are meant to be
rescue tenders, equipped with a broad range of gear for
fire rescues, car crashes, and storms. Firefighters are so much
more than firefighters, you know, they are attending all sorts
of rescues and they need the equipment to keep members
of the public safe and themselves safe. I do not

(04:38):
think this is unreasonable. And imagine how much the person
has paid who made the decision to send the fire
appliances to Britain to get them fitted out, who didn't
get the tape measure. You know, I'd be a bit
brassed off far as a firefighter too. On that alone,
I'd say give the guys and girls a pay bump.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
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