Firefighters vehemently reject State Government’s new wages offer, vote to take industrial action

Firefighters have angrily voted down the opening offer from the State Government for a new pay deal and agreed to take industrial action for the first time since 2011. They joined nurses and police in January in demanding a 5 per cent pay rise and also called for a substantial workforce expansion plus higher superannuation employer contributions. They also want annual leave loading of 17.5 per cent and overtime rates of time-and-a-half for the first three hours, increasing to double rates thereafter, which is in line with what most other public sector workers receive. Instead, after six months of negotiations, members have been offered “an absolute disgrace”, United Professional Firefighters Union of WA branch president Clem Chan said. They’ve been offered a $60 per week or 3 per cent per annum pay rise plus a one-off $3000 cost-of-living payment, which they would only receive after reaching an in-principle agreement. At a fired-up special meeting of members, Mr Chan described the offer as “an absolute joke” and “laughable”. Members agreed when asked if they were p...ed off, with one proclaiming, “Throw it in the bin” as Mr Chan held up the offending document. They unanimously voted to reject the offer as “contemptuous” and take industrial action as of 8am on Thursday, working to rule and leaving stations for incidents only. As of Monday, firefighters working at Department of Fire and Emergency Services offices in roles including training and administration will return to stations. “We’re talking about continuing until further notice,” Ms Chan told the large crowd. “Everything we’re doing now is entirely justified.” Earlier, Mr Chan told The West Australian the offer was insulting, saying firefighters were burnt out and should be properly compensated for doing a physically and mentally dangerous job. “If they (the State Government) were trying to miss the mark and not achieve any of the targets, they’ve done that in a stunning fashion,” he said. Mr Chan said more permanent full-time equivalent roles were desperately needed. “You actually have overtime burnout — you have a small number of people who are willing to engage in that to keep the service running — to keep stations, trucks online, people who are working countless hours in management roles who quite frankly aren’t being remunerated for it,” Mr Chan said. “They’re just doing it off their backs because they want to ensure the community stays safe. “We’re not asking to build more fire stations, which would be nice, or put more trucks out there, we’re asking for these FTEs to fulfil roles within the department as part of its day-to-day business, which currently is lacking.” It was particularly “crass” that the cost of living payment offer was being “held over” the heads of firefighters. “That’s pretty on-the-nose for our members,” Mr Chan said. While the union continues its push on the WA Government to expand the list of cancers covered by streamlined firefighters workers compensation from 12 to 21, that is not part of the bargaining process, Mr Chan said.