Firefighter workplace agreement stalls

AN expensive income protection policy is among the hurdles holding up negotiations between the MFB and the United Firefighters Union.

An MFB spokeswoman said its board was still considering the content of the proposed agreement.

FIREFIGHTERS want expensive income protection ­included in their agreements as negotiations between the MFB and union stall on a workplace deal.

The MFB board last year delayed signing off on a controversial enterprise bargaining agreement, even after significant government pressure to end negotiations were brought to bear on the agency.

It is thought that a union consultation clause, which could act as a veto on management operation decisions, is a major sticking point.

But the Herald Sun can also reveal there is angst about the United Firefighters Union’s continued pursuit of an expensive income protection policy.

MFB AGREEMENT WITH UNITED FIREFIGHTERS UNION BELIEVED TO BE IMMINENT

Most superannuation funds have income protection — which pays workers some of their wage when incapacitated for the long-term — but the UFU wants to enshrine it in the agreement.

A source said if the government backed income protection for firefighters, it would set a precedent that could see pressure to extend the expensive policy to other emergency services personnel, including police and paramedics.

Questions would also be raised about whether volunteer firefighters — many of whom worked paid jobs around their volunteering — would be given access to the same income protection as paid firefighters, the source said.

MFB leaders were hauled into meetings with senior government bureaucrats during the Christmas and New Year period in a bid to finalise the agreement with the metropolitan firefighters. But the board has delayed signing off on the agreement, and negotiations continue to drag on.

Negotiations between the MFB and union have stalled on a workplace deal.

In its bulletin to members, the UFU assured them a “resolution and consolidations” of bargaining agreements could be anticipated in 2018.

But UFU secretary Peter Marshall’s new year report also put on record that he was seeking income protection as part of the negotiations.

Emergency Services Minister James Merlino said firefighters deserved the security of a workplace agreement.

“Ultimately, this is a matter the board is working through.’’

An MFB spokeswoman said its board was still considering the content of the proposed agreement.

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