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:: Site off-limits
- Herald on Sunday Article - 16 January 2005 |
Fire Service staff are hosed off
over a decision by their employers to ban access to popular internet
auction site Trade Me.
All bids are off for firefighters after an audit by Fire Service
bosses revealed 455 employees had made 1652 visits to the site over
three days, spending 178 hours on it.
But firefighters say the decree is ridiculous, the result of a
heavy-handed "Big Brother" regime.
With no allegations staff had been using the site inappropriately or
ignored their duties, Firefighters Union president Mike McEnaney was
in the dark as to the reason behind the decision.
"It's not like anyone has said, we'll just let the front half of
your house burn, I need to put in one last bid," said Mr McEnaney.
With firefighters often spending hours in the station with little to
do, he saw the use of sites like Trade Me as an appropriate
alternative to playing cards or pool, activities which used to be
common on fire stations.
"It's not good for morale. A lot of guys are despondent and
can't work out the rational for it. If it's in their
down-time, and there's nothing offensive about it, who cares?"
He suspected the figures painted an inaccurate picture, as
firefighters might have the site open for hours but not actually be
actively using it.
"No-one's going to piss around logging off if there's a callout," Mr
McEnaney said.
However, there will be no scope for a trade-off on this issue, said
Fire Service communications director Debbie Barber.
"It's not directly related to the operations of the Fire Service and
is not seen as a good use of Fire Service time and equipment," she
told the Herald on Sunday.
Firefighters should instead spend their time on duties that would
benefit the Fire Service, such as paperwork and community safety
issues.
"This was a case of excessive use. The decision has been
made."
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