United Firefighters Union fires up: bid to take over more CFA territory

“Insulting” is how CFA volunteers describe the UFU’s new campaign to expand FRV’s footprint, under union control.

Takeover battle: The United Firefighters Union is gearing up to take over more CFA territory.

The United Firefighters Union has launched a campaign to take over of more CFA territory, warning regional Victorians they are not protected by “professional firefighters”.

The UFU’s slick new Ready for Anything campaign warns regional Victorians covered by the CFA they are “NOT located in an area that is protected by FRV (Fire Rescue Victoria) Professional Career Firefighters”.

The campaign then urges anyone outside the FRV zones to send a proforma email to the Fire District Review Panel and Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes “to let them know that you want a professional fire service protecting you and your family, your home or your business”.

Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria chief executive Adam Barnett said the organisation rejected “the unions divisive campaign, and reminds Victorians that all firefighters are professional, including those that choose not to be paid.

“We work as one and we respect one another. To choose a term (professional) to headline their campaign that they know volunteer firefighters will find insulting just illustrates the divisive and disrespectful approach of the UFU towards Victoria’s 55,000 strong CFA volunteer first responders.”

In a letter to FRV Commissioner Ken Block the Opposition’s emergency services spokesman Brad Battin branded the campaign “disrespectful and dishonest” and that it was “designed to create fear and send a message that people living in CFA response zones are unsafe.

“After discussions with Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) firefighters it is obvious this campaign is not endorsed by many in the field.

“I am calling on you (Block) to join me, call out this disgraceful advertising, and demand the United Firefighters Union listen to its own members and stop this campaign. It is another example of dividing the fire services at a time the community need leaders to be uniting and offering hope.”

The campaign launch coincides with last Friday’s release of a discussion paper by the Review Panel on what Risk Assessment Methodology it will use to determine if more CFA territory should be brought under FRV control.

FRV was established on July 1 last year following a four-year battle that saw it formed from the merger of the MFB and the CFA’s 12 regional and all outer metropolitan Melbourne CFA stations.

The career-only FRV service is widely regarded as being under the UFU’s control, via one of the most restrictive and lengthy enterprise agreements in Australia.

Wangaratta volunteer and group officer Lachlan Gales said country Victoria was “already serviced by a highly professional organisation that’s been in place for decades – the CFA”.

“It’s corrosive to relationships to undertake a campaign that diminishes people who are effectively your colleagues,” Mr Gales said.

Mr Barnett said “alarmingly, the campaign appears to be an attempt to influence and politicise the Governments ‘independent’ fire district review panel, to try and initiate a further review of fire district boundaries before the next election.

The Weekly Times is seeking comment from Minister Symes.