Career firefighters stopped work for an hour on Friday - for the 11th time - from noon until 1pm and took to the street to strike.
New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) Dunedin secretary Senior Firefighter Mike Taylor said they were ramping up pressure and would strike at noon on Monday for an hour from next week.
"It’s the last thing any of us want to be doing here," he said.
He said it would be business as usual on Monday, except for an hour between noon and 1pm, when they would walk off the job.
"The government’s empowering Fenz [Fire and Emergency New Zealand] not to move, not to address any of our issues that we’re talking about ... so we’re left to our own devices."
SFF Taylor said the goal was to put pressure on the government to intervene and force Fenz to put a decent offer on the table.
"It’s not a negotiation if only one side is negotiating - Fenz are really hiding behind government here."
He said it was "frustrating" to keep reading in the media Fenz talk about all the promises it made firefighters, but to not see any of the promises materialise for the front line.
"They say ‘We’ve got new fleet coming, the training issues are being addressed’, but we’re still relying on 40-year-old trucks, and we still have no live-fire training once you finish the recruit course, which is dangerous."
In August, NZPFU started nationwide industrial action after negotiations for a collective agreement with Fenz failed.
The talks centred on health and safety concerns, ageing equipment, staffing numbers and pay.
Fenz Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler said the organisation thought striking when both parties were actively involved in facilitation needlessly put the community at risk.
"We continue to call on the NZPFU to call off its now twice-weekly strikes while the process of facilitation takes place.
"We remain committed to a fair, sustainable and reasonable settlement so we can continue working to keep our communities safe."
