MFB bosses refuse to buckle to United Firefighter’s Union
UPDATE: THE leadership of the MFB has been given the government’s full backing after it refused to fold in the face of union demands for more control over the fire service.
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THE leadership of the MFB has been given the government’s full backing after it refused to fold in the face of union demands for more control over the fire service.
MFB acting chief fire officer Paul Stacchino yesterday said parts of the MFB’s current deal with the United Firefighters Union were “unworkable”.
MFB chief executive Jim Higgins said the union’s new push for stronger veto powers was a “recipe for disaster” and that the MFB board could not agree to their demands.
Emergency Services Minister James Merlino would not be drawn on those comments this morning but he said the MFB board, Mr Higgins and Mr Stacchino “have my support”.
He said there had been a “toxic relationship” between MFB management and its firefighters but “it can’t be just resolved through the words on a document in an agreement”.
“The important thing to stress here is we are in the middle of negotiations,” Mr Merlino said.
“It’s currently before the Fair Work Commission and that’s the appropriate venue for these concerns, these negotiations to take place.”
The Deputy Premier said the MFB EBA had become a “lightning rod” for tension between management and the UFU and that “we need to see an across the board improvement”.
“There are many issues that we need to resolve,” Mr Merlino said.
“This is about how people work together. There are broad improvements we need to make, not just in relation to enterprise bargaining, but in the way management and the firefighters work together.”
He said he understood the concerns raised by the MFB but he did not want to “negotiate over the airwaves” while the matter was before Fair Work.
“We’re keen for this dispute to be resolved and it is appropriate that it is before the Fair Work Commission,” Mr Merlino said.
“We’re hopeful of a resolution as quick as possible ... This has gone on way too long but it will have an end.”
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said he believed “the odds are against the MFB executive’s survival”.
“I don’t think anyone believes a word Daniel Andrews or James Merlino says,” Mr Guy said.
“How could you then take James Merlino’s offer of support as anything else but what it is - probably the precursor to a ‘don’t come Monday’ letter.”
Mr Guy also hit out at the “rogue” United Firefighters Union’s bid for more control over the MFB.
“This union’s out of control, they’re completely out of control, they’re completely off the leash trying to take over our fire services, whether it’s in the city or the country, and they’re doing it with the imprimatur, the support of the Premier and the State Government,” he said.
“You have to ask, why would the State Government do that, why would they allow a union to push an EBA that the experts are now saying compromises safety? I think the State Government should be ashamed of themselves.”
In evidence at a parliamentary inquiry into Victoria’s fire preparedness yesterday Mr Stacchino said that the current log of claims, which are before the Fair Work Commission, would limit his powers.
“The UFU would have an effective veto on all matters the MFB is obliged to consult on,” Mr Stacchino said.
The tough talk had raised the prospect of another board being sacked for standing in the way of the UFU, after the CFA board was dumped in June for resisting a workplace agreement that also boosted “veto powers”.
The CFA deal claimed the scalp of chief executive Lucinda Nolan, who told the inquiry on Tuesday she could not stay and oversee a “destructive and divisive” agreement backed by Premier Andrews that had the potential to negatively impact community safety.
Tuesday’s dramatic parliamentary hearing heard the UFU’s latest 319-page log of claims to the MFB contained 150 requirements for consent and agreement, up from 82 in the existing deal. Mr Stacchino said this would force the MFB to agree with the union on matters including equipment, resourcing, appliances, rostering and training.
More than 150 disputes between the MFB and union have been lodged since 2011, either at the Fair Work Commission or through resolution procedures, and Mr Stacchino said parts of the agreement struck in 2010 were “unworkable in the context of operating the fire services”.
The UFU’s state secretary, Peter Marshall, did not respond to the Herald Sun.
Last month the Herald Sun revealed the MFB’s chief fire officer, Peter Rau, had raised concerns directly with Mr Merlino.
Mr Higgins said it was not clear that the chief officer’s powers were enforceable under the current agreement, which he said created “a model of conflict”. He said the new deal needed to ensure the chief officer could exercise his powers to lead emergency responses so there was “no question about the direction provided”.
“Consultation in its current form is highly prescriptive and when you have consultation with ‘must agree’ and ‘status quo’ as an outcome, if agreement is not reached, then for all intents and purposes, that is a veto,” Mr Higgins said.
“We are seeking to move constructively away from those arrangements, acknowledging the observation earlier that this is about building trust. We are committed to doing that but in circumstances where an agreement contains no capacity for the leadership of the organisation to demonstrate that it’s trustworthy, then that’s a recipe for disaster.”
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