United Firefighters Union’s push to pay firefighters bonuses out of FRV efficiencies

The militant United Firefighters Union is pushing for a new lucrative allowance but it’s been accused of trying to obtain an unfair advantage in bargaining negotiations.

United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall is pushing for a new allowance. Picture: Aaron Francis

Firefighters would share in a whopping $127m taxpayer-funded windfall under a new push by the militant United Firefighters Union.

Under a lucrative new allowance being sought by the UFU, firefighters would be paid bonuses from savings or efficiencies achieved in relation to the creation of the state’s new fire service, Fire Rescue Victoria in 2020.

An application for the proposed new Efficiencies Allowances is currently before the Fair Work Commission and has identified savings or efficiencies in excess of $127m the UFU says should be shared among firefighters and other FRV staff.

It would mean payouts of around $28,000 if shared equally among FRV’s 4516 employees.

The FRV is fighting the application, arguing any new allowance should be negotiated under current enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations.

Ahead of last year’s state election UFU boss Peter Marshall revealed he wanted a 8.6 per cent yearly pay rise for firefighters under a new wage deal, amounting to a 25 per cent increase from 2022 to 2025.

They also wanted trench rescue equipment supplied to parts of regional Victoria who do not have the capability and have argued booming population growth outside Melbourne has added to their demands.

Other key areas of the enterprise agreement include a plan for merging the benefits of CFA and MFB firefighters and hiring more diversity officers to bring a wider section of the population into the industry.

Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes has accused the UFU of seeking the new allowance in lieu of genuine EBA negotiations.

Government lawyers told the Fair Work Commission the Efficiencies Allowance application had been lodged because the UFU “has not obtained the outcome it wishes to achieve in bargaining and/or in order to obtain an unfair advantage in the bargaining proceedings”.

Industrial negotiations with the union have created headaches for the Andrews Government in the past, with bitter disputes engulfing deals for the CFA and MFB done in 2016 and 2019.

Dealings between the UFU and the government are the subject of a major independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission investigation.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Richmond, is one of four known IBAC probes to have personally involved Daniel Andrews.

It is understood to have probed the UFU’s role in the amalgamation of the MFB and CFA into Fire Services Victoria.

Mr Andrews refused to say whether he would support a bonus for firefighters, saying deals would need to be negotiated.

“That sort of industrial and enterprise bargaining is best done between the parties. So we’ll let the employer, with any support that the government needs to provide, negotiate with the union,” he said.

Opposition spokesperson for Emergency Services, Ann-Marie Hermans, rejected the idea of an efficiencies allowance.

“Victorians are already funding the most expensive fire services in the nation,” she said.

“If there are any savings from these reforms, they should be returned to hardworking Victorian taxpayers.”

A Government spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to comment on a case currently before the Fair Work Commission.