FENZ has written to NZPFU acknowledging the contributions our members and representatives made to the Covid-19 response to date. National Commander Kerry Gregory specifically recognises the work of Wellington Local Secretary Alan Collett, Medical Response SME Justin Murtha and Hawkes Bay Local Vice President Warwick Le Quesne for their work with the FENZ Service Delivery Coordination Centre.
In October 2019 the NZPFU issued a Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN) under the Health and Safety at Work ACT 2015 to prevent the FENZ and St John Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from extending co-response to other incidents to be determined by St John. Our concerns included the lack of requisite training and/or qualifications for the increased scope in responses, and the unnecessary risk of emotional and psychological trauma.
The Local notes with disappointment the outcome of the failed Auckland Working Group.
By the closing date for nominations for the position of Whangarei Local President, the following nomination has been received.
Members are reminded that pursuant to Union Rule B.15.11, Local Annual General Meetings should, where possible, be scheduled for the month of August.
Members will be aware that for almost a year Auckland’s largest and newest Heavy Aerial Fire Truck has been away for repairs, meaning that the 25 year old Relief Turn Table Ladder (TTL) has had to be used as a front line response aerial in its place.
In 2018 FENZ and the NZPFU signed terms of settlement that included setting up a Taskforce to consider how to address FENZ’s inability to recruit and retain sufficient firefighters and the issues affecting all NZPFU members living and working in Auckland.
On 30 June and 1 July NZPFU and PSA representatives met with FENZ to discuss the Tranche 2 decisions and the “re-consultation” document and to commence negotiations for terms and conditions for the new proposed roles.
In accordance with the Rules nominations are called for the position of Local Committee Member due to a casual vacancy arising on the Wellington Local.
The AGM of the Tauranga Local Branch NZPFU will be held at Tauranga Fire Station, 9am on Friday 28th August 2020.
FENZ is rolling out an end-user trial of the unified station uniform but the firefighters involved in the trial have been told not to wear the station uniform in a live fire event!
Today we received a beautiful tribute to our members in appreciation of their care and response during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The NZPFU welcomes the announcement this afternoon that $50 million of the Government’s “shovel-ready” projects will fund the building and upgrading of fire stations. This funding is sorely needed. But already FENZ has failed to prioritise that funding to address community risk and firefighter safety.
The NZPFU cannot support the introduction of a code of conduct and behaviour when FENZ fails to live by its values.
You can now have a NZPFU beanie to keep you warm this winter!
We know that some former members are frustrated with the delays in being notified if they are owed payments, and if so when that payment will be made. We are passing on all those queries to the appropriate personnel at FENZ and following up on progress. They should be receiving their calculations, and be receiving any payment outstanding.
Interesting times are ahead for us all. In the past weeks, we have met with FENZ management around two significant outstanding issues; medical co response recognition and Auckland task force recommendations/solutions.
The NZPFU has a successful meeting with the UFBA and FENZ reaching agreement to involve psychologists in a working group to develop and monitor appropriate research into mental wellness.
NZPFU and PSA representatives have been meeting with Deputy Chief Executive Service Delivery Kerry Gregory and other FENZ representatives over the past two days to discuss the proposed Tranche 2B roles.
I hereby declare Robert Francis Hutchison elected Central Branch Secretary.
The NZPFU will be meeting with FENZ to discuss the scope and nature of proposed research into mental wellness.
Central Branch Members are reminded to ensure they have their electronic vote in for the election of Central Branch Secretary by 1800 Monday
29 June 2020.
The publicity of a possible Covid-19 case at the IBIS hotel in Rotorua has raised concerns for our trainers and trainees and other members at the National Training Centre.
This week NZPFU representatives and a specialist engineer met with FENZ representative’s to push for necessary investigations into the structure and safety of the Napier Fire Station be undertaken with urgency so that the necessary re-build and remediation work can begin.
As of the 16th of June, St John call takers are no longer officially questioning around Covid-19 symptoms or triggers.
Due to the recent resignation of the Whangarei Local President, nominations are hereby called for this position in accordance with the Rules of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union.
FENZ has now distributed their “re-consultation” documentation which impacts on the number and configuration of CFF and RR positions.
The Local continues to receive reports from members about the state of the emergency response fleet (Red Fleet) throughout Auckland, including Trucks not being able to respond to emergency incidents due to faults and break downs.
Today, the Office of the Controller and Auditor-General provided its report “Minister of Health: Management of personal protective equipment in response to Covid-19” to Parliament.
Electronic voting for the election of the Central Branch Secretary was launched yesterday (0800 Sunday 14 June) and will close at 1800 Monday 29 June 2020.
Electronic voting for the election of the Central Branch Secretary will be launched 0800 Sunday 14 June and will close at 1800 Monday 29 June 2020.
We have been receiving several inquiries from concerned members regarding the letters FENZ provided yesterday disestablishing FRMO roles and a notice of redundancy.
FRMOs will have received letters stating that their positions will be disestablished under Tranche 2B, that the letter constitutes a letter of redundancy and that new positions will be established and advertised next week.
New Zealand passed a significant milestone at midnight last night with the move to Level 1 essentially removing all restrictions other than border control.
The NZPFU and PSA have now engaged with FENZ and aware that members affected by the changes will be briefed this week prior to an announcement on Thursday.
By closing date for nominations for the positions of Central Branch President, Vice President and Secretary, the following nominations were received.
We understand FENZ intends to release its final decisions for Tranche 2and 2B next week.
In October 2019 the NZPFU notified FENZ that its intention to give preference to personnel who are not qualified or experience career firefighters for proposed District and Group Manager positions was in breach of the requirements to appoint the best-suited person to any vacancy, and a breach of FENZ’s primary duty of care to provide safe systems of work.
Members are advised that starting Wednesday 3rd June, Mel Johnson the Te Hiku Welfare Officer, will begin making station visits to meet the crews.
The annual Colmar Brunton Public Sector Reputation Index research has FENZ top of the list for the fifth consecutive year.
Members will know that effective Noon, Friday the 29th May, Government has changed the Level 2 COVID-19 restrictions with an increase in gatherings to 100 persons.
Well we made it back to level 2 without any Professional Career Firefighter infection which means stations remained open and operational.
Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment is the last line of defence and is necessary for the health and safety of firefighters.
With the transition to Level 2 and the elimination of station bubbles, the risk of exposure to members has been increased.
FENZ has confirmed that the 2020 PCA payment will be paid to all eligible NZPFU members in the 17 June pay.
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions youth network Stand Up is undertaking credible research into the economic impact of Covid-19 for New Zealand’s young workers.
As discussed with Locals on our regular Local and National Official telephone conferences, we need to remain vigilant to ensure PPE meeting the required standard for medical response under Covid-19 conditions.
As staff will know the Prime Minister has announced a move from tomorrow to COVID-19 Alert Level 2, and as a result, we will begin a controlled transition to “Business as Usual”.
The NZPFU has members in a range of roles across FENZ including some employed in non-operational fixed term positions, and there are secondments into various departments.
With the lowering of the covid-19 risk to Alert Level Two, and in consultation with Local Management, we are now in a position to relax some of the stringent conditions associated with our staff “bubbles”.
The current safe systems of work instigated for Covid-19 response remains critical to the safety of firefighters as New Zealand moves down in Level 2 Restrictions.
The following is a joint notice from the Local Executive and Area Management about expectations for Level 2.