Fed-up Dunedin firefighters who had to deal with four different equipment failures the day before a nationwide strike say the situation they face couldn’t be made up.
Four different fire appliances had various breakdowns across the region on Thursday while on their way to respond to multiple blazes that broke out due to dry conditions and strong winds.
New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) Dunedin secretary Senior Firefighter Mike Taylor said it was a “ridiculous” situation, and “you couldn’t make it up”.
“It shows how serious this situation really is — the public might say ‘This can’t really be happening, surely’, but this is literally happening to us every day.”
While on the way to a third alarm vegetation fire in Balclutha, Dunedin’s command centre lost power while coming over Lookout Point hill and had to coast down.
It came to a stop in the Fairfield off-ramp where it blocked traffic until it could be repaired and moved.
The command unit is now away for repairs, leaving the nearest command centres in Timaru and Invercargill.
The Roslyn station were also grappling with a pump that had a mechanical failure that took it off duty twice, and two volunteer firefighting crews had faults in their trucks that meant they could not respond promptly.
“It’s not just the career firefighters affected; this goes across the volunteers and the careers.”
For months, the Dunedin station was running a 39-year-old aerial appliance as its 28-year-old truck was out of action.
“This is just what we’re talking about … this is just an example of what’s happening elsewhere in the country and why we’re striking.”
Yesterday, career firefighters from around Dunedin walked off the job from noon until 1pm after negotiations between Fire and Emergency New Zealand and NZPFU hit a brick wall.
SFF Taylor said Fenz was attempting to push the union into facilitation with the Employment Relations Authority.
“As long as they’re trying to push down that line, then they’re not sitting around the table. We can’t negotiate and so we’re at a stalemate.
“We need to come back to the table.”
Fenz and NZPFU have been locked in negotiations for a collective employment agreement for career firefighters. After failures to come to an agreement, NZPFU began nationwide industrial action in August.
Talks between the union and Fenz centred around health and safety concerns, ageing equipment, staffing numbers and pay.
SFF Taylor said every time firefighters had to strike, the mood became increasingly sombre.
“We just want to get back to doing the job that we love — we don’t want to be here.”
Fenz Deputy National Commander Megan Stifler said she was disappointed NZPFU issued further strike notices for one-hour strikes at noon on December 5 and 12.
“I urge the NZPFU to withdraw these latest strike notices and not issue any more while the Employment Relations Authority is considering our application to provide facilitation.”