Fire and Emergency New Zealand bosses have blamed ongoing strike action for delays responding to yesterdays blaze in Pakuranga, while the firefighters’ union has pushed back, saying FENZ was meant to have contingency plans in place.
I was one of those volunteer firefighters before I moved to Brisbane. Infact, had I still been one, I would have been responding to that very fire as I was based very close by. I used to frequent that very shop for the best pita breads.
The management of FENZ is well known for their bully tactics. It starts at the top. This pay dispute has been going on for 2 years. And it's not just about pay, it's about equipment as well or lack of equipment fit for purpose.
It was perfectly fine to spend millions of dollars researching the effect of whale song on Kauri trees, while a brand new firefighter starts on around $30000-40000 a year.
Thanks for your service, Terry. That’s something to be genuinely proud of.
And you’re spot on about the kauri trees. Six million dollars to play whale songs to trees is apparently fine, but when it comes to backing our paid firefighters, suddenly there’s no money. Funny how that works.
Absolutely fn horrific what in the hell is wrong when our firefighters risk their lives and are paid peanuts and are expected to work with substandard equipment just pay up ffs
I, like Terry, would prefer to see the millions that is handed out to organisations and charities with little or no scrutiny or accountability our reasonable outcomes directed to our health and emergency systems. I'm sick of seeing so called charities making a few people very rich and helping even less than the so called administrators the enrich. It's government departments that let this happen. I'm grateful that you are putting the blow torch on them Matua.
The government needs to get its priorities sorted and look after our Firefighters and pay them generously. They risk their lives to keep the public safe- thank you to all those Firefighters for your incredible dedication!
I voted yes give them a fair pay BUT I also live in a rural area serviced in the first instance by some really amazing locals who volunteer and they aren’t treated fairly by both the govt and paid firefighters, particularly in respect of ACC cover. So everyone needs to take a deep breath and try and imagine a functioning society with no firefighters at all and maybe no ambo drivers too. Time for politicians to clean their own backyard up before attempting to finance other countries issues
"If the government can find tens of millions of dollars, year after year, to send overseas to Ukraine, it can find the money to pay firefighters properly here at home. "
Think about that every time Luxon promises international aid or feel good programs. How about we fix us first?
So sick of paying ever increasing living costs and taxes, only for elected representatives to waste it on their glory projects and not reinvest in our own NZ human, social and infrastructure capital ... esp atm when the nation is so much in financial shtok.
I would like information on the rates of pay the firefighters receive now, and in fact also the hours of work actually fighting fires. I know they have a 4 day on 4 day off roster, and I know the shifts are 12 hours, my son was involved in Ambulance on the same shift pattern.
From what I have read and heard, I believe these people are some of the highest paid people in the country.
Google AI: Firefighter salaries in NZ vary by rank, with Trainees starting around $56,000-$56,500, qualified firefighters earning approximately $60,500-$72,600, and senior roles exceeding $100,000 with experience and overtime.
A lot of permanent firefighters were doing overtime to make ends meet. Those rates probably include overtime. The rates I saw without overtime were not that high.
Funnily enough, if I were to continue service in Queensland, the rural service is volunteer. The Urban service, well, doesn't have volunteers. They have what they call "auxiliary firefighters" that are casual... And they are paid $30 a hour...
Firefighters in NZ are well paid. They have a history of always asking for more. They should be prohibited from striking, similar to the Armed Forces. They should now get an inflation addition to their current salaries and conditions and that’s it.
I have known just 2 firemen. With their rostered days on they spent a some of that time asleep in bed, and they had full time self-employed jobs to occupy their time off.
Firefighters have every right to protest, plus it's for an hour! They need to have the best up to date kit and be paid properly for risking their lives to save ours.
I would love an independent journalist to look closer into this, and the person behind the current push from the union, 7% of paid hours is an average time on call outs for salaried firefighter in nz is what I've heard, and 80% of our fire fighters are volunteers, shouldn't they be the ones getting the new gear???
I would need a lot more information about the claims made by the union and the response of the employer before I could form an opinion on this dispute. I imagine it is not as simple as you set out. Apart from that I am inclined to think the unioñ has a point about contingency planning, that said, if the union is simply going to offer"service as usual" there would be no point in striking so the process of negotiating the contimgency plan itself would probably have been quite difficult. A little less emotion might be helpful .
I think after more than 2 years pushing to get up to date equipment and pay for service, there is more than enough information. Firefighters have been negotiating in the background while still going out daily wiith old unsafe equipment to save lives but now things are getting really dangerous. Almost every station has breakdowns of equipment because there is "no money" to get it fixed in a timely manner. They are getting desperate hence the strike actions!
It's the usual.srory. The men and woman on the front lines do the hard yards, take the risks and deal with the very real day to day trama component. They earn a decent rate but earn every cent and deserve more. However while they are demonised for being on too much income there will be a managerial class above them earning a lot more without any of the shift work or day to day stress of running into a burning building. We need more scrutiny on the managerial salaries and perks instead of criticizing the men and woman who do the actual risky bits.
The structure of FENZ is so different now. Too many many managers in offices not enough firefighters on the ground. They are also fighting for acknowledgement and care for the job causing cancers firefighters suffer.
I was one of those volunteer firefighters before I moved to Brisbane. Infact, had I still been one, I would have been responding to that very fire as I was based very close by. I used to frequent that very shop for the best pita breads.
The management of FENZ is well known for their bully tactics. It starts at the top. This pay dispute has been going on for 2 years. And it's not just about pay, it's about equipment as well or lack of equipment fit for purpose.
It was perfectly fine to spend millions of dollars researching the effect of whale song on Kauri trees, while a brand new firefighter starts on around $30000-40000 a year.
Thanks for your service, Terry. That’s something to be genuinely proud of.
And you’re spot on about the kauri trees. Six million dollars to play whale songs to trees is apparently fine, but when it comes to backing our paid firefighters, suddenly there’s no money. Funny how that works.
Absolutely fn horrific what in the hell is wrong when our firefighters risk their lives and are paid peanuts and are expected to work with substandard equipment just pay up ffs
I, like Terry, would prefer to see the millions that is handed out to organisations and charities with little or no scrutiny or accountability our reasonable outcomes directed to our health and emergency systems. I'm sick of seeing so called charities making a few people very rich and helping even less than the so called administrators the enrich. It's government departments that let this happen. I'm grateful that you are putting the blow torch on them Matua.
The government needs to get its priorities sorted and look after our Firefighters and pay them generously. They risk their lives to keep the public safe- thank you to all those Firefighters for your incredible dedication!
I voted yes give them a fair pay BUT I also live in a rural area serviced in the first instance by some really amazing locals who volunteer and they aren’t treated fairly by both the govt and paid firefighters, particularly in respect of ACC cover. So everyone needs to take a deep breath and try and imagine a functioning society with no firefighters at all and maybe no ambo drivers too. Time for politicians to clean their own backyard up before attempting to finance other countries issues
"If the government can find tens of millions of dollars, year after year, to send overseas to Ukraine, it can find the money to pay firefighters properly here at home. "
Think about that every time Luxon promises international aid or feel good programs. How about we fix us first?
So sick of paying ever increasing living costs and taxes, only for elected representatives to waste it on their glory projects and not reinvest in our own NZ human, social and infrastructure capital ... esp atm when the nation is so much in financial shtok.
I would like information on the rates of pay the firefighters receive now, and in fact also the hours of work actually fighting fires. I know they have a 4 day on 4 day off roster, and I know the shifts are 12 hours, my son was involved in Ambulance on the same shift pattern.
From what I have read and heard, I believe these people are some of the highest paid people in the country.
Google AI: Firefighter salaries in NZ vary by rank, with Trainees starting around $56,000-$56,500, qualified firefighters earning approximately $60,500-$72,600, and senior roles exceeding $100,000 with experience and overtime.
A lot of permanent firefighters were doing overtime to make ends meet. Those rates probably include overtime. The rates I saw without overtime were not that high.
Funnily enough, if I were to continue service in Queensland, the rural service is volunteer. The Urban service, well, doesn't have volunteers. They have what they call "auxiliary firefighters" that are casual... And they are paid $30 a hour...
Bloody school teachers get paid more than they do ffs
Firefighters in NZ are well paid. They have a history of always asking for more. They should be prohibited from striking, similar to the Armed Forces. They should now get an inflation addition to their current salaries and conditions and that’s it.
I have known just 2 firemen. With their rostered days on they spent a some of that time asleep in bed, and they had full time self-employed jobs to occupy their time off.
Firefighters have every right to protest, plus it's for an hour! They need to have the best up to date kit and be paid properly for risking their lives to save ours.
I would love an independent journalist to look closer into this, and the person behind the current push from the union, 7% of paid hours is an average time on call outs for salaried firefighter in nz is what I've heard, and 80% of our fire fighters are volunteers, shouldn't they be the ones getting the new gear???
I have not seen any information about their actual remuneration so I was reduced to asking Chatgpt - plus comparisons:
Firefighter (career) ~NZ$60,000 – NZ$71,000 (With OT etc.: NZ$100,000+)
Police Officer ~NZ$77,000–NZ$85,000+ (With OT etc.: NZ$90,000 – $100,000+)
Paramedic ~NZ$84,000 – NZ$92,000 (OT overtime/unsocial pay possible)
I would need a lot more information about the claims made by the union and the response of the employer before I could form an opinion on this dispute. I imagine it is not as simple as you set out. Apart from that I am inclined to think the unioñ has a point about contingency planning, that said, if the union is simply going to offer"service as usual" there would be no point in striking so the process of negotiating the contimgency plan itself would probably have been quite difficult. A little less emotion might be helpful .
I think after more than 2 years pushing to get up to date equipment and pay for service, there is more than enough information. Firefighters have been negotiating in the background while still going out daily wiith old unsafe equipment to save lives but now things are getting really dangerous. Almost every station has breakdowns of equipment because there is "no money" to get it fixed in a timely manner. They are getting desperate hence the strike actions!
It's the usual.srory. The men and woman on the front lines do the hard yards, take the risks and deal with the very real day to day trama component. They earn a decent rate but earn every cent and deserve more. However while they are demonised for being on too much income there will be a managerial class above them earning a lot more without any of the shift work or day to day stress of running into a burning building. We need more scrutiny on the managerial salaries and perks instead of criticizing the men and woman who do the actual risky bits.
The structure of FENZ is so different now. Too many many managers in offices not enough firefighters on the ground. They are also fighting for acknowledgement and care for the job causing cancers firefighters suffer.