Welcome to the second Wellington Newsletter, right on Christmas time and another busy year for your Local with the Rugby World Cup,quite a few staff
changes, and of course the ongoing industrial action.
Committee
Dave Cairns has resigned and headed down South and this has created a vacancy for a Hutt district Rep. Currently there are several younger guys interested in stepping up and this is good news as new ideas and views are always welcome. Until this position is filled by election, Hamish Rankine and Alex Dittmer will share the Hutt area.
Alan Collett will now take over Newtown as well as Brooklyn and Mike Tomason now shares Thorndon and City
The remaining reps stay the same:
J/Ville and Porirua Paul lahina and John Rowe
Karori Steve Field
Kilbirnie Rob Hutchison
Paraparaumu Steve Hudson
Vacancies
The two recently created vacancies in the Hutt have now been advertised. There was some reluctance from the administration initially to advertise these with the " Section 66" mentioned, however, common sense prevailed after some discussions with your reps.
As at the time of writing, I believe a decision is close on the SSO position in Wellington.
Rugby World Cup
All been and gone, with a great (but nailbiting) final, which saw the All Blacks hang on for the win!
Your Local has recieved a letter from the administration thanking us for our involvement in the World Cup games in Wellington. By all accounts this was a great effort from you, the members,to make sure that the games and aftermatch celebrations went off well and the public were safe for the duration of the event. Never underestimate the public profile that we create by doing this, not only locally, but also with the many thousands of tourist the visited our fair city. There has been a large number of comments to that effect from various people, public and organisors.
Thanks and well done.
Sprinkler responses
The local committee have had long discussions on the correct response to the current turnout to sprinkled buildings. Some officers have been taken to task as to their "making up" on route or arrival. The key to this is that the senior officer has a responsibility to ensure that he has adequate resources to enable him to deal with the risk attached to that building, and also ensure that there is sufficient manpower available to implement the safe person concept.
It is far better to err on the side of caution as situations have a habit of developing rapidly when least expected!
AGM
The local recently held the AGM over two days as has happened over previous years. One at JVille and also at Petone.It was a pretty dissapointing turn out from members with the Hutt meeting only slightly better attended. This I guess, was a result of not being able to take trucks to the venues. Given the chance to talk about the current industrial situation and the remits for conference, we had expected a far larger turnout. This was your chance to make your thoughts known, hear others and maybe have a better understanding of what is happening behind the scenes with the contract negotations.
Social Sites
These seem to have settled down somewhat at the moment. They can be very destructive not only for the people posting comments but also for the union in general. Lets not give the Employer any more ammo than they have at present!
Movember!
Another year has rolled round and again we've had the usual top lip growths to bring awareness for prostate cancer! A great cause with good publicity, especially the Rugby/League fights on Sky TV.
For those guys in the 45 and up age bracket, it is very important that at any sign of trouble, please get yourselves checked. I am hoping that after Christmas, I will be doing a follow up K99 dvd as a sequel to last Decembers one which delt with prostate cancer.
Annual Conference
The 23rd annual conference was held in Palmerston North between 22nd-24th November. Detailed reports are now available on stations in the new Union folders that have been distributed. Your Local took one remit to conference, namely, that there be a working party set up to resolve the TEP. This was lost.
News and Views from around the Hutt
Theres been a few changes round the Hutt Valley recently. Peter Bean has retired, Ken Anderson has also gone, along with Dave Cairns, who has headed for the West Coast. We wish those guys all the best.
Congratulations to Brett Lockyer on his appointment to the vacant SSO position in Wellington.
Two new faces have arrived off the last recruits course. Justin Long going to Reds and Mike Forrest on to Blues. A warm welcome to the Hutt for those guys.
Brendan Nally has been appointed to the AM position, and at the moment Bernie Rush is filling that position until Brendan arrives, ably assisted by Dave Key. Henry Stechman is also back on deck. The two SO vacancies have also been advertised.
As you will be aware, Glenn Hudson has stood down from his position with the Local, his organisational skills and "get on with it " manner will be missed. We thank him for the time and efforts for which is a timeconsuming and underappreciated role.
I'm sure there is more going on round the Hutt and Wellington, so if you have any news or thoughts, feel free to contact me at Avalon Greens 5778380, 021 1003645 or hamish.rankine@gmail.com
Cheers
Hamish Rankine
Hutt Rep NZPFU (Wellington Local)
