Peter Marshall claims leaked videos prove firey radios won’t work in Metro Tunnel
Militant union boss Peter Marshall says leaked videos prove firefighters’ equipment won’t work inside the Metro Tunnel and has demanded an apology from Jacinta Allan to “the men and women putting their lives on the line”.
Militant union boss Peter Marshall has doubled down on claims firefighter radios will not work inside the Metro Tunnel when it opens from Sunday.
Leaked videos shot inside Town Hall station shows Fire Rescue Victoria radios failing to connect while underground.
Premier Jacinta Allan this week hosed down concerns by the United Firefighters Union which has for months been warning their equipment won’t work inside the new railway.
They have also raised concerns about equipment working inside the West Gate Tunnel which is expected to open next month.
Mr Marshall, the UFU secretary, said the leaked videos proved the union’s claims, and demanded an apology from the Premier.
“These videos show radios failing in the tunnel, even directly outside the incident control room,” Mr Marshall said.
“They show radios unable to connect to the antennas that re-broadcast the emergency services radio signals in the Metro Tunnel.
“They are evidence of a rail asset that has been cleared for opening without the engagement with firefighters, health and safety reps and their unions that is required by law, and which would have raised these issues at an earlier stage, in a less public forum, before the government had announced an opening date.
“This is exactly what firefighters were blowing the whistle on when the Premier of this state told millions of Victorians that the people they trust to protect them were liars.”
The UFU said in a statement Telstra, which supplied the radios, had confirmed the current FRV configuration was incompatible for use inside the tunnels.
“The Premier should apologise to the men and women putting their lives on the line every day, who she branded liars because their concern with public safety was inconvenient to her political ambition,” he said.
The UFU has waged war on the Allan government, promising an industrial-scale campaign to block it’s re-election.
More than 30 key seats will be targeted by firefighters including Premier Jacinta Allan’s electorate of Bendigo East and the Niddrie seat of deputy premier Ben Carroll in the largest political campaign since the UFU rallied against Denis Napthine ahead of the 2014 election.
It comes amid growing frustrations over a long-running pay dispute and ongoing concerns about the suitability of Fire Rescue Victoria’s ageing fleet.
The UFU has demanded a 25 per cent pay increase over three years _ substantially more than similar deals made with paramedics and police who also waged war on the government.
Firefighters rejected the offer of a 12 per cent pay increase over four years and thousands of dollars in cash bonuses.
Under the mega deal 4500 firefighters would have received an upfront payment of about $7000 as well as guaranteed 3 per cent pay increases for four years.
Further annual cash bonuses of about $2000 per firefighter were also on offer.
Arbitration of the ongoing negotiations between FRV and the UFU is continuing.
