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Labourstart News
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| Cutting Your Wages | 28th June 2008 |
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The plain and inescapable truth that has not been addressed in his message is that over 1000 members (99.5% of those present) voted to reject the offer put forward by the Commissioner for a 4% wage rise in exchange for a substantial loss of conditions.
The current Union leadership was elected with an overwhelming mandate to take a direct and up front approach with the Department. That is what is happening right now and clearly Mr Mullins doesn’t like it.
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| Union's Special Wage Case | 23 June 2008 |
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The Union’s State Committee of Management has now been forced to again amend the log of claims served on the Government. The Department’s decision to oppose our wage claim means the FBEU must now argue in detail why we shouldn’t have our wages cut and our conditions removed by the courts. On this basis the State Committee has endorsed a claim of 8% per year with every member receiving the same percentage increase. The claim for 8% per year (inclusive of the 2.5% granted in February) for three years is based on 4% each year for inflation and 4% each year in compensation for extra work and new responsibilities.
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| Wage Case Update - Background to Bans | 22 June 2008 |
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Here’s the background - the last time the Union imposed relieving bans was Friday 28th March on the basis of the Department’s unilateral decision to introduce alternate duties for retained firefighters. Had the Department succeeded in introducing its plan many retained firefighters would have risked substantial loss in Death and Disability entitlements. Coming out of that dispute the Department was able to convince the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) to order that the Union cease and refrain from authorising, organising, supporting, encouraging or inciting any industrial action for three months.
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| Relieving and Administrative Bans Lifted | 18 June 2008 |
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Having weighed all considerations applying to both this immediate dispute (the point of which has already been made given the employer’s evidence that the bans imposed have cost the Department $46,500 in additional overtime last evening, and a further $31,500 today) and to the Union’s wider prosecution of our Special Case wage claim now before the IRC, State Committee resolves that the relieving and administrative bans that were imposed at 1800 hours on 17 June 2008 are to be lifted by members immediately upon receipt of a notice from the State Secretary to that effect.
Members are therefore instructed that the relieving and administrative bans imposed by yesterday’s notice are to be lifted immediately upon receipt of this notice.
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| 24 hour bans to commence 1800 hrs today | 17 June 2008 |
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The Union’s State Committee this afternoon resolved that whilst today’s time extension was unlikely to be reversed, the employer should nonetheless be held accountable for seeking to reduce the amount of time the Union has to provide its case for a wage in the first place.
Accordingly, all members are hereby instructed that effective on and from 1800 hours today, Tuesday 17 June 2008:
• no member is to perform any relieving, stand-bys or out-duties. Members are to return to and remain at their base station, save for GSA-based members who are currently relieving out of the GSA, who should remain at their present location. (For clarification regarding the operation of relieving bans, see the notice on the Union’s website issued 28 March 2008.); and
• no member is to perform any paperwork or administrative duties (including fire reports, BRIMS, PIP’s, CARS, FANS, etc.) other than for firefighter pay or leave related matters.
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| Priorities | 3rd June 2008 |
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While the NSW budget might be good for fire service managers and bureaucrats it is anything but good for public servants and in particular firefighters. No one would argue that we don’t need new trucks, new 10/14 stations, cameras, fans and air-sets but these don’t pay our wages and they don’t put food on our families tables. This budget is the clearest indication yet that with the cost of living surging ahead the priorities held by the Department are vastly different to the expectations of frontline firefighters.
The question every firefighter in NSW needs to ask is just what are we prepared to do about a Government that rode into office on the back of the public sector Unions and is now slashing our wages simply because it thinks it can get away with it.
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| Unions Media Strategy | 3rd June 2008 |
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The Union has now put together a television advertisement calling on members of the general public to support us in our wage campaign. This advertisement is the latest strand in the Union's media strategy in our campaign for a new Award for permanent and retained firefighters.
The advertisement will be screening on the nine network during the ‘Fire 000’ reality show and syndicated throughout regional NSW on WIN/NBN. The first advertisement can be viewed here by opening this page on the Union’s web site. All members should now be encouraging family friends and relatives to watch the advertisements and send in emails supporting our campaign.
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| Retained Sub Branch Secretary | 30 May 2008 |
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As such the Union is now calling upon any eligible financial member of the Union interested in taking on the position of Retained Sub-Branch Secretary to contact the Union indicating that interest in order that the State Committee of Management can consider all candidates prior to appointing a person to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the State Committee of managements term.
Applications should be in writing either by mail - #1-7 Belmore Street, Surry Hills 2010, via fax - (02) 9218 3488 or email – office@fbeu.net addressed to the State Secretary and arrive by no latter than Friday June 27th.
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| Wages back to square one | 27 May 2008 |
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On Friday May 16th the Union Secretary met with the Commissioner and put forward a fully costed proposal that could become the basis for settlement of our wage claim prior to arbitration. That proposal was based on a three year award paying 2.5%, 5% and 5%. The clear indication coming out of that meeting was that agreement was close and the need for arbitration could be avoided.
The following Thursday with both parties again in conciliation the Department dropped its bomb shell informing the Union that even if all aspects of the 2.5%, 5% and 5% deal were fully funded and signed off – it will still be insisting on arbitration. In short it wants our Award gutted and entitlements we have held for decades purged entirely from our Award.
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| Lies Lies and Damn Statistics | 21st May 2008 |
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As firefighters we have a moral, ethical and legal obligation to assist in providing first aid to people in need given we now all have the training, skills and equipment needed to do so. No one is arguing we shouldn’t and indeed the Union has gone one step further and called on the Government to clearly and unequivocally state if it intends to run down the ambulance service and use professional firefighters to carry the slack.
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