The Union has been approached by several concerned members with regard to the voluntary servicing of B.A. equipment, including the testing of Level 4 Gas Suits.

The Union refers members to previous notices, particularly ALC/13-45 of 24 May 2013 and ALC/13-49 of 27 May 2013.

To recoup the issue, the Union was strongly against the dis-establishment of the B.A. Servicing Departments. This position was stated repeatedly to Management at Local, Regional and
National levels. The Union was ignored in every case, with individual members being told to “pull their heads in” and “you don’t know what you are talking about, we do”.

Management arrogantly went ahead with these ill-advised reforms, creating the predictable debacle in which the Fire Service now finds itself in.

There was no offer of an apology to the dedicated, long serving members who had serviced B.A. to an exceptionally high standard at that time. This has only been forthcoming as the true cost of servicing the simplest of repairs is now realised. There was, however, no delay in removing the TELARC payment from members’ wages.

The Fire Service has now invited members to come forward for training in minor servicing of the new Dräger PSS5000 B.A. Sets, as well as testing of the new Level 4 Gas Suits. There is no offer of payment for this new work, nor is there any clarity around accountability should any of these repairs have a catastrophic consequence should something go wrong.

The ISO9000 system was completely auditable at every step. There is no assurance under this proposed regime that the buck will not be passed from the Fire Service or Dräger back on to the individual who performs the repair.

Dräger is being paid around $157 per hour for their services. Members are being asked to perform this new work with no compensation in their remuneration.

As such, the position of the Auckland Local remains unchanged and the Union advises that no member agree to volunteer their services for this role.