Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) have been locked in bargaining talks for a collective employment agreement for paid firefighters since July 2024.
Yesterday’s national strike, from noon to 1pm, marked the first for the year.
NZPFU Southern branch secretary and Dunedin Senior Station Officer Mark Leonard said, as a show of goodwill to all its members on leave, the strike action was limited to just station closures.
It was still an effort to get Fenz and the government to "address the problems", SSO Leonard said.
"It’s a bit of one of those catch-22s; do we do it or do we not?
"But, if we don’t do it now, I think it shows that we’re backpedalling toward the government."
A previously planned national strike on Boxing Day was cancelled due to Parliament not being in and also as a show of good faith to the public, he said.
Sticking points in the negotiations included staffing levels and hours and truck maintenance.
"None of us want to strike.
"We feel like we’ve actually been pushed to [where] this is our only option now."
He had been on the negotiating committee for the past 19 months, SSO Leonard said.
"Fenz haven’t moved at all on what they’ve offered us and we have moved considerably to try and get back somewhere near what they’ve offered, but they’re not engaging with us, unfortunately."
In a statement, Fenz Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler said the Employment Relations Authority had referred Fenz and NZPFU to facilitation to help make progress in ongoing negotiations for the collective employment agreement.
It hoped the process introduced "some realism into discussions".
"The NZPFU’s most recent settlement proposal was more than three times higher than our last offer, which we believe was fair, sustainable and reasonable, and in line with other settlements across the public service."
The settlement offer Fenz made, prior to facilitation, was a 6.2% increase over three years, she said.
"We value our people, which is why over the past decade average senior firefighter pay has cumulatively increased by 37% — more than 10% above the average increase for all workers."
Fenz was also investing in replacing its fleet, having taken delivery of 317 new trucks since 2017 with another 78 on order.
The union has notified of another one-hour strike next Friday.
