FALSELY ACCUSES FIREFIGHTERS OF PAINTING TRUCKS

In an astounding attack on firefighters undertaking lawful industrial action, Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler has publicly blamed firefighters for the erosion of public trust.

Megan Stiffler emailed the whole organisation yesterday stating it was the signs and placards on fire stations and appliances that were driving down public confidence.

DCE People Janine Hearn wrote to the NZPFU claiming that union members were using permanent paint on the appliances. She provided two examples. The only example provided where the truck could be identified is below. The second photo is the same truck photographed yesterday. This proves there was never permanent paint used.

It is an indictment on FENZ’s executive leadership team that they are more concerned with the products used to convey a message rather than the message itself. Yes, that appliance was due a significant safety inspection in 2022 and is still yet to be inspected. For four years firefighters have been expected to use an appliance that does not have current safety sign-off.

FENZ has offered the NZPFU membership 2.2% which is less than the 2.4% it granted all non-NZPFU staff which was said to be the “market rate”. FENZ has no answer for why the market rate increase was not applied for NZPFU members, including those that do the same work as those that were granted the larger increase in July.

FENZ CE Kerry Gregory and senior leadership have repeatedly brought the organisation into disrepute. It is their actions that erode public trust and confidence.

• FENZ is reducing the number of career firefighters in Auckland. Recruitment nationally dived this year and FENZ has already cancelled the January 2027 career firefighter recruit course.
  
• Fire trucks and stations are off-line and closed due to insufficient staffing. FENZ is failing to meet minimum crewing in various cities and towns – including Auckland and Wellington – regularly.
  
• FENZ fails to meet minimum staffing for the three 111 emergency dispatch centres regularly. Sometimes there are only two 111 dispatch centres running for the whole country. FENZ’s answer is to recruit and train a handful of extras but to be employed only on a fixed term for the coming fire and flood seasons.
  
• Almost daily fire appliances are breaking down preventing or delaying response to emergency incidents, limiting the operational tactics at an incident, or putting the responding firefighters and those they respond to at greater peril.
  
• There is currently not one hot fire training facility in New Zealand. Firefighters are assigned to a fire station having never experienced live fire.
  
• Since 2017 FENZ has doubled its funding, more than doubled management and support staff, but stagnated volunteer and firefighter numbers.
  

The Minister for Internal Affairs has stated she has no confidence in CE Kerry Gregory after it was exposed that he deliberately did not inform the Minister or Department of Internal Affairs of a serious issue regarding the collection of the Fire Service Levy. That matter is now before the Serious Fraud Office. Astonishingly Mr Gregory was not required to be held to account while overseas on a FENZ-paid junket to a fire conference and then on personal annual leave. His annual leave was extended upon his return. He is yet to take responsibility or be held accountable.

A Parliamentary Inquiry into FENZ’s management of fleet and other matters was scathing of the Board and senior leadership. The Report vindicated the issues the NZPFU members had been raising for years. The Select Committee was also highly critical of FENZ senior leadership who appeared numerous times in public and in private. The Committee did not believe information FENZ provided and went as far as to state it was “deliberately misleading”.

Post the release of the Report, the Minister stated she had “concerns relating to the capability of other senior leaders within FENZ” when asked whether she had confidence in FENZ’s Deputy Chief Executive Operational Response (Megan Stiffler), Deputy Chief Executive People (Janine Hearn), Deputy Chief Executive Corporate Services (Darryl Purdy), Deputy Chief Executive Prevention (Stephen Hunt), and the Acting Deputy Chief Executive Asset and Programme Delivery of Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Jim Stuart-Black).

The latest antics of blaming firefighters for the erosion of trust in the organisation, and falsely claiming they have used permanent paint on appliances, confirms that there needs to be a complete clean out of the Executive Leadership Team and Board.

In unity,
Wattie Watson
National Secretary