As unions rankle government, a peace deal is brokered with firefighters. Sort of

The Minns government has reached an interim peace deal with the state’s firefighters, agreeing to a one-year, 3 per cent pay increase in exchange for the union halting industrial action that hampered the opening of the new CBD metro line.

But the olive branch will only extend so far. Labor and the Fire Brigade Employees Union have essentially agreed to disagree, and will instead try to resolve the long-running pay dispute via the Industrial Relations Commission.

FBEU chief Leighton Drury says firefighters continue to demand a 20 per cent pay increase despite an interim agreement with the NSW government.Credit: Jane Gunn / FBEU

The interim deal may last only until arbitration ends in the IRC in March, but it is welcome news for a government that has repeatedly found itself at loggerheads with public sector workers – whose pay was a centrepiece of its campaign in 2023.

The government had offered firefighters a 10.5 per cent wage increase over three years, well short of the FBEU’s demand for 20 per cent over the same period. But both parties have agreed to a 3 per cent increase for the first year, back-dated to February.

FBEU secretary Leighton Drury stressed the interim deal did not mean the union had dropped its initial pay demand, which argues for an 8 per cent increase in the first year of an agreement.

He also said the union could still take industrial action over issues outside the agreement, such as safety issues. “And firefighting is a very dangerous profession,” he said.

“The union maintains its position around our log of claims. This 3 per cent increase means nothing to that process other than there will be an easing of cost of living pressures for firefighters.”

After being elected on a promise to increase public sector pay by removing the former Coalition government’s 2.5 per cent wages cap, Labor has, since barely a month after its election in March last year, been locked in a series of high-profile disputes with a union movement determined to extract significant pay concessions.

Industrial relations minister Sophie Cotsis labelled the truce “a good step forward” but conceded there was still “work to do” in reaching an agreement.

That extends to other pay deals. The government has struck significant agreements with teachers and the Health Services Union, but some remain unresolved.

Less than a fortnight ago the sound of nurses protesting on Macquarie Street in defiance of an IRC ruling almost drowned out the voices of MPs debating during question time inside parliament. The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association had rejected the same 3 per cent offer from the government to go ahead with the action, causing the cancellation of more than 500 elective surgeries and dialysis and chemotherapy appointments.

The firefighters union has also proved a nuisance. The ban on members taking part in critical safety drills and other exercises on Sydney’s $21.6 billion metro rail line contributed to the government delaying the much-anticipated opening by a fortnight to gain final safety approvals.