Premier Jacinta Allan trying to overturn sweeping power Dan Andrews gave to UFU
In a U-turn set to spark an industrial war, the Allan government wants to overturn the militant United Firefighters Union right to veto virtually any change to the operations of Fire Rescue Victoria.
Victoria
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The Allan government is sensationally challenging sweeping powers over Victoria’s fire services which were controversially handed to the United Firefighters Union by Daniel Andrews.
In a stunning U-turn that is set to spark industrial war, the government wants to overturn the UFU’s right to be veto virtually any change to the operations of Fire Rescue Victoria, from rostering and training to uniforms and equipment.
A string of fire service chiefs resigned or were booted after warning in 2016 that the consultation and agree rules – demanded by UFU boss Peter Marshall after his members helped Labor win the 2014 state election – amounted to an effective veto over CFA and MFB operations.
Emergency services minister Jane Garrett also quit when Mr Andrews sidelined her and backed Mr Marshall’s power grab, plunging the government into a political firestorm that also sparked a major corruption investigation.
Nine years later, under Premier Jacinta Allan and Emergency Services Minister Vicki Ward, the government is now pushing back against the union’s veto powers.
It’s now requesting the Fair Work Commission alter consultation clauses in the new workplace agreement, which would mean the union does not have to agree in order for changes to be put in place.
And in a further flashpoint, the government is offering a 12 per cent pay rise to firefighters over the next four years, while the union wants a whopping 25.9 per cent increase backdated to 2022 on top of further raises over the life of a new agreement.
The CFA board was sacked by Mr Andrews for opposing a similar industrial overhaul that was later enforced on the MFB and then FRV, which was created in 2018 by the former premier in a restructure that split paid and volunteer firefighters into separate agencies.
The controversy also harmed Bill Shorten’s bid to drag Labor to power in the 2016 federal election, with party insiders blaming the issue for their candidates falling short in crucial Victorian seats.
Negotiations over the new deal have dragged on for three years, with the stalemate now before the industrial umpire as the first intractable bargaining case to be tested in Victoria.
Ms Ward’s submission, backed by FRV, has been made to the commission ahead of mediation talks on July 23.
After the last agreement expired in 2022, the UFU sought even more power including a new registration board that would grant them full control over who could be a qualified firefighter in Victoria.
Ms Ward is calling for the commission to reject the proposed registration board, and lock out the union from any decisions on fire district boundaries. She also wants the union to work with FRV on any future income insurance programs after the union’s previous scheme left the taxpayer-funded fire service with a Fringe Benefits Tax bill of millions of dollars.
Insiders familiar with the dispute said the minister’s submission showed the Allan government had major concerns about the UFU’s control over the fire services, and wanted to have the union to be “brought back into line”.
The move comes after Fire Services Implementation Monitor Niall Blair delivered a scathing verdict on the restructure and the consultation rules last year, warning the union exerted too much control over basic decision-making.
“The ‘consult and agree’ clause in FRV’s enterprise agreement for operational staff, which previously applied to MFB staff, disables the ability of management to implement policies without reaching consensus with the Union,” Mr Blair said in his report.
A Victorian Government spokesperson said on Thursday: “The UFU were presented with an offer in 2023, which was rejected. We have accepted their decision to take it to intractable bargaining and we are respecting that process.”
“Nothing the government is doing in the FWC reduces firefighter numbers or their pay – in fact, the government’s submission proposes a pay increase for firefighters.”
Originally published as Premier Jacinta Allan trying to overturn sweeping power Dan Andrews gave to UFU
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