C.A. Settlement
At the request of the Mediator appointed by the Chief Executive of the Labour Department, the Union will meet with the Fire Service negotiators next week.
Members will be advised of any developments as and if they occur.
The 7.9% (over the last 12 months) in food costs announced today again puts in context Firefighters’ claims for an increase in wages.
No doubt a 7.9% increase is not a lot to someone being paid $360,000 a year, but is very important to New Zealand’s low paid Firefighters.
Region Restructure
The Union has noted the almost universal opposition to these poorly thought out changes.
It would seem the primary criterion to being a member of the team that (supposedly) dreamed up these changes is the ability to count up to 8.
Over recent years the Fire Service has moved from 6 Regions; to 3; then to 8; and now to 5. One can only speculate that the new Chief Executive might as well have a crack at 1 or 2 or 4 or even 9 or 10.
The Union does see it as extraordinary, and hardly International Best Practice, for any Chief Executive, only a few weeks before his departure, to introduce a radical restructure of an organization for his successor to implement and deal with all the fall-out.
In any event, the Union would ask members who may make submissions on the restructure to forward a copy to the Union.
