United Firefighters Union hit back at pay rise offer as a ‘transparent attempt to undo your hard-fought terms and conditions’

The militant firefighters union has rejected a massive pay deal and now wants the Fire Rescue Victoria boss to resign as tensions escalate.

Negotiations on the pay deal have been going for more than two years. Picture: Tim Carrafa

The militant firefighters union has comprehensively rejected a whopping 12 per cent pay increase and thousands of dollars in cash bonuses.

The United Firefighters Union is now demanding the resignation of new Fire Rescue Victoria boss Gavin Freeman amid allegations he reneged on an agreed position that would see “members trade off their conditions of employment for wage increases”.

Under a new wage deal approved by the state government, firefighters were offered an upfront payment of about $7000 as well as guaranteed 3 per cent pay increases for each of the four years, and further annual cash bonuses of about $2000 per firefighter.

The deal would be conditional on references to the controversial Firefighters Registration Board being removed from the agreement, as well as changes to how future claims are arbitrated.

But a United Firefighters Bulletin, approved by union boss Peter Marshall, dubbed the offer a “transparent attempt to undo your hard-fought terms and conditions that have been present in industrial agreements for many years”.

United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall approved the bulletin. Picture: AAP

Negotiations have been ongoing for more than two years.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the offer was in line with the state’s wages policy.

“No doubt the union won’t be happy with that because they’d like to see the wages policy a lot higher,” he said.

“You’ve got to strike that balance between being absolutely respectful and grateful to our workforce no matter which sector they’re in, but also leaving enough money in the budget so we can employ more of them to lighten the workload.”

Mr Andrews said he believed the offer was “fair and reasonable”.

He said Fire Rescue Victoria would now consult with the United Firefighters Union.

“We’ve been negotiating back and forth. This has been a long journey and I’m keen to resolve it and strike that balance,” he said.

“FRV are authorised to make an offer, they’ll make the offer and we’ll wait and see what the union says to that.”