NZPFU AND FENZ BOARD TO MEET NEXT WEEK

FENZ BOARD CHAIR EXPRESSES DESIRE TO PAY FIREFIGHTERS BETTER

The NZPFU has cancelled today’s one-hour strike that was notified to commence from 12 noon today across the country.

Last week, the NZPFU announced that 99% of members who voted at nationwide membership meetings had voted to reject FENZ’s October 2026 offer of 2.2%, and 88% voted to take unprecedented industrial action of 10-hour strikes, once a week for four weeks. The first strike, to take place from 1pm to 11pm on the 27th of November, has been notified.

The NZPFU wrote to the Board Chair detailing the outcome of the ballots, which also included 99% confirming that they had no confidence in the Board or the FENZ Senior Executive Leadership team. The NZPFU asked the Board to meet with the National Committee to find a pathway to putting the bargaining on a pathway to settlement. The Board Chair was quick to respond and confirm his willingness to meet.

The NZPFU National Committee will meet with the FENZ Board next week seeking the Board’s support in requiring FENZ senior management to bargain genuinely with a real desire to settle the bargaining. This will take an agreement to have the right people in the room with access to funding for a reasonable and fair settlement.

The Board Chair, Raveen Jaduram, fronted up to the NZPFU Conference on Tuesday and was candid in his approach with the representatives from the 19 NZPFU Locals and National Committee.

In answer to questions, Mr Jaduram expressed a desire to pay the NZPFU, and in particular firefighters, better, and stated that it was not reasonable that they had not had a pay increase for three years. He was not specific about the level of pay increase but spoke positively about wanting to work cooperatively with the NZPFU to reach agreement on the bargaining process so that a fair and reasonable settlement could be reached. He indicated that the Board will be willing to agree to who needs to be in the room and how that can be achieved.

Mr Jaduram accepted there were “deeper organisational issues” that underpin the recent “level of turbulence that has unfolded”, referring to the Parliamentary Select Committee Inquiry into the management of FENZ’s fleet, issues of operational capability, concern around organisational culture, the bargaining dispute and ongoing industrial action, the restructure proposals (which the NZPFU and PSA have again referred to the Employment Relations Authority), the use/costs of consultants and contractors instead of using internal capability, and the resignation of CE Kerry Gregory after the Minister publicly declared no confidence in him when he kept a serious historic matter—that has since been referred to the Serious Fraud Office—from Internal Affairs and her Office for a year.

Mr Jaduram set out his personal five observations he believes are important “if we are serious about building a better Fire and Emergency New Zealand”.

• Capability matters more than narrative – can FENZ deliver on what the public expects of it? Can firefighters rely on their equipment, can they access effective training, can operational concerns be raised by the frontline to management to act properly on, and can communities rely on FENZ’s emergency response?
• Trust is built on accuracy – the Parliamentary Inquiry highlighted instances where information provided by FENZ was inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading. “As Chair, I have made it clear that accuracy, transparency, and candour are not optional qualities for this organisation.”
• Culture is revealed during periods of pressure, and the reality is that FENZ personnel do not feel their concerns are heard and important operational decisions are made far too far from the realities of operational life.
• Complexity is not the same thing as effectiveness – there are highly capable people throughout FENZ, so why is FENZ using consultants and contractors without fully utilising the expertise within?
• Optimism for the future – optimism does not come from ignoring the problems, but from recognising the problems can be solved. The resignation of CE Kerry Gregory marks the end of the chapter, and a new CE will begin another chapter. The future depends on whether FENZ is prepared to learn from this period. Success would be FENZ being operationally capable and financially disciplined.

Mr Jaduram said the organisation had to rediscover confidence in itself. “Confidence does not come from slogans or strategy documents; confidence is born from competence and earned through performance and trust. Confidence is doing the basics exceptionally well, year after year. The communities of New Zealand deserve that. The people of Fire and Emergency New Zealand deserve that.”

If the Board Chair follows through with his stated view of FENZ and where it needs to head, there is a lot of common ground the NZPFU can work with. Mr Jaduram appears to be willing to admit to the serious systemic issues and what it will take to turn the organisation around to be the fire and emergency service it needs to be, with resourcing refocused on emergency response and public safety through fire prevention. He will need to first hold the senior management to account. It is the Union’s view that this will require a clean-out of the executive leadership team, stopping the restructure until a full and accurate review of the state of FENZ’s capability, capacity, and financial status is determined, as well as working in collaboration with the NZPFU to achieve safe staffing and resourcing, and fair and reasonable wages and conditions as a priority.

In unity,
Wattie Watson
National Secretary