United Firefighter’s Union put pressure on MFB

THE United Firefighters Union is launching a new wave of industrial action as its pay dispute with the MFB heats up.

The United Firefighters Union is launching a new wave of industrial action as its pay dispute with the MFB heats up.

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THE United Firefighters Union is launching a new wave of industrial action as its pay dispute with the MFB heats up.

The protected action, which starts next Monday, will involve the MFB’s corporate and technical staff but not operational firefighters.

Staff will stop carrying out dozens of tasks, including processing accounts, providing information to insurance companies about structural fires, ordering catering and using MFB meeting rooms.

Current industrial bans already in place mean staff are not booking airfares, attending meetings with MFB executive leaders, collecting statistical data or using the “caps lock” function on their computers.

They are also refusing to prepare reports for the government, work at places other than their normal office, or order vehicle parts for workshops.

UFU secretary Peter Marshall said the union would consider “potential escalation of industrial action” at a mass membership meeting on Thursday.

He said the union had offered “significant compromise” but that the MFB rejected its “fair claims” at a meeting last week, other than offering to increase the sign-on bonus to staff to $1500.

“The MFB continue to ignore key claims including your request to have genuine access to a claim hard fought for, the 9 day fortnight,” Mr Marshall told UFU members in a bulletin.

“Further, the MFB continue to seek the inclusion of a new performance management clause and new misconduct clause on top of existing provisions in relation to these matters.”

Mr Marshall said union members should not follow through with industrial action “if it would endanger the life, personal safety or health, or the welfare of any part of the population”.

An MFB spokesman said the MFB “respects the rights of its staff” to participate in the protected action.

“We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union and employee representatives to reach an agreement that delivers genuine service delivery improvements to MFB and improved wages and conditions for our staff,” the spokesman said.

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