Revealed: Firefighters Union strangling CFA

At its worst the CFA is without 20 per cent of its career commanders and assistant chief fire officers it needs due to Union barriers.

CFA chief Jason Heffernan faces critical shortages of up to 20 per cent of its career commanders and Assistant Chief Fire Officers (ACFOs) every week, due to union barriers.

The United Firefighters Union (UFU) is strangling the CFA, leaving it without 20 per cent of the career commanders and assistant chief fire officers it needs, according to Victoria’s Fire Services Implementation Monitor’s latest report.

All CFA career staff must be seconded from Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV), which in turn must gain union approval on every aspect of how those CFA commanders and Assistant Chief Fire Officers (ACFOs) are managed – from occupational health and safety reporting to disputes, grievances and relief management.

Implementation Monitor Niall Blair said the “consult and agree” clause in FRV’s enterprise agreement with the UFU was “impeding agency interoperability and contributing to operational challenges such as the vacancy and relief issues experienced by CFA”.

He said the CFA reported the vacancies had resulted in “CFA districts, groups, brigades and volunteers not receiving the dedicated operational support and leadership they need to ensure operational preparedness and readiness”.

“CFA also reported that the vacancies are impacting on CFA’s ability to maintain operations against its statutory obligations and provide safe systems of work in relation to fatigue management of its seconded workforce,” he said.

FRV is contractually required to supply 96 operational commanders and 45 ACFOs.

But Mr Blair said “in 2023-24, CFA experienced a deficit of, on average, 17 senior operational leaders (i.e. Commanders and ACFOs) each week.

“This equates to 11 per cent of CFA’s operational workforce. At its worst, CFA experienced a deficit of 33 operational positions (i.e. 20.6 per cent of its operational workforce) for one week in 2023-24.”

Implementation Monitor Niall Blair said the “consult and agree” clause in FRV’s enterprise agreement with the UFU was “impeding agency interoperability and contributing to operational challenges such as the vacancy and relief issues experienced by CFA”. Picture: Supplied

“My office has also received evidence of industrial action impacting CFA activities, particularly in co-located stations. This influence is hindering the completion of key actions underpinning the implementation plan, impacting operations and damaging the culture of the agencies and morale on the ground.”

Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria chief executive Adam Barnett called on Premier Jacinta Allan to intercede and “commit to fixing the issues and dumping the failed secondment arrangements that handicap Victoria’s largest fire service”.

“The Victorian Government must commit to restoring the CFA Chief Officer’s direct control of his operational workforce and full performance management of his chain of command,” he said.

“The Chief Officers and Commissioners are there to run emergency services that protect the people of Victoria. They have to make hard decisions, and put the safety of Victorians first and foremost in their minds.

“For a government to tie the hands of these officers behind their backs represents a complete dereliction of duty on the part of the government and a failure to govern for all.”

Mr Blair was appointed four years ago to monitor the Allan-Andrews Government’s forced merger all Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) and CFA career staff into FRV, along with 38 CFA stations.

Mr Blair said CFA and FRV leadership, including FRV’s secondment management department, have made repeated attempts to address the vacancy and non-relief issues but these efforts have had limited impact due UFU barriers.

“The ‘consult and agree’ clause in FRV’s enterprise agreement for operational staff, which previously applied to MFB staff, disables the ability of management to implement policies without reaching consensus with the Union,” he said.