Australian Firefighters Alliance hits out at UFU Victorian branch over Covid vaccine mandates
The Australian Firefighters Alliance has blasted the Victorian branch of the fireys union, accusing it of doing a “backflip” after it backed keeping Covid vaccine mandates in place.
Victoria
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A war of words has erupted between a group advocating for Victorian firefighter rights and the United Firefighters Union Victorian branch, in the wake of vaccine mandates being kept in place by Fire Rescue Victoria.
The Australian Firefighters Alliance (AFA) has hit out at the UFU saying the organisation is abandoning some of its members after the union issued a press release on Sunday evening clarifying its stance on the statewide vaccine mandate extension applying to professional firefighters in Victoria.
The UFU statement read, “The United Firefighters Union – Victorian Branch fully supports the position of Fire Rescue Victoria on ensuring that community and firefighter safety is protected.
“Firefighters routinely respond to medical emergencies, and current arrangements regarding vaccination are appropriate.”
The release prompted outrage from the AFA, who issued a statement in response that read:
“This is a complete and utterly insidious backflip from their previously indicated positions notified to their membership back to 2021 & 2022 in published bulletins.
“The Australian Firefighters Alliance finds this behaviour tiring and utterly duplicitous treatment of their own members.”
The AFA has also clarified that while not being a registered union, it's a group advocating after “members joined simply because their unions refused to communicate with them or represent their interests when raising their concerns for their life, health and safety relating to Covid-19 vaccines”.
The conflict between the two groups comes after FRV Commissioner Gavin Freeman confirmed that firefighters must continue to have had three vaccinations to work, leaving some firefighters on leave without pay indefinitely.
The mandate came after some public agencies, including Victoria Police, rolled back their vaccine mandate.
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