It has been brought to the Union’s attention that the CFO Wgtn Fire District has withdrawn the SO vacancy at Karori Stn and re advertised it as an SSO vacancy and that this position will be a Station OIC role.

The Local can advise members that it has written to and met with CFO graham and expressed our strong stance on the subject of having Station OIC’s. In fact, the Local thought it had an understanding from the CFO on this matter and in return the Local would look at a Section 66 proposal. Needless to say, this proposal has very low importance now.

The Local finds the CFO’s actions as very provocative and potentially damaging to what has been a good working relationship.

Members are advised that the Local’s position is that Station OIC’s i.e. having an SSO on each Station is a matter for national negotiation and not for the CFO to just "decide". In fact, this concept was tabled by management at the last round of negotiations which attracted a substantial amount of money for the position, only to be withdrawn the following day.

The Local is also very concerned that if the CFO can arbitrarily change one SO Position ton SSO, then surely he will think he can do it in the reverse and have a district full of SO’s.

The Local advises members that its stated position on Station OIC’s is that:

•  It cannot be arbitrarily decided by the CFO
• There has been no consultation with the Local
• It is a National Issue to be negotiated so that members will get financial reward for extra responsibility and workload
• Will disenfranchise existing SO's, essentially telling them the work they currently do is worthless
• The job description reads like a DCFO's Job position, not an SSO