Fire Brigade to fight closures

Fire and rescue services in NSW will suffer temporary closures due to the State Government’s $64 million budget cut.

After fears over increased fire services response time, the Fire Brigade Employees Union is determined to fight closures to keep the community protected.

Secretary of the Fire Brigade Employees’ Union, Jim Casey spoke of these concerns. “In many cases, firefighter response times will be slower. In some cases, buildings will be too far gone for fire fighters to safely enter,” he said. “The sad reality for our members is that they will be the ones who deal with grief and trauma on the frontlines as lives and property are threatened, not politicians in Macquarie Street.”

President of the Fire Brigade Employees Union, Darin Sullivan held similar sentiments. He said: “Essentially, the budget cuts put in place by under the Barry O’Farrell coalition government will have a severe impact on fire rescue.

“According to the state government, ensuring firefighters respond effectively will incur significant labor costs. The only way for the Government to save money is to reduce the number of firefighters, which puts additional pressure on the commissioner to close fire stations.”

NSW firefighters launched protests at workers compensation rights in June, walking off the job in coordinated strikes. They are also planning to target Coalition electorates at the next State election.

Mr Sullivan said: “110 fire stations across NSW will be affected, with the commissioner being able to close up to eight stations on any given
day. The matter causes real concerns as permanent firefighters are there for a reason.”

In response to claims that overtime billing and sick leave has cost the fire service $24 million – that is $7 million over the estimated budget – Mr Casey said: “The fact of it is that one third of overtime work is included. We work 118 hours a year. Given we work 12 hours shifts we get ten days off a year – only two more than most civil servants, who get eight hours. The nature of our job means that we can’t come to work if we have a sore back or ankle. While we’re committed to getting sick leave down sometimes there’s no option.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reported the words of the commissioner of Fire and Rescue NSW, Greg Mullins. He disagrees with Mr Casey about
the level of impact the station closures will have. “I hope that when we go to the industrial commission, the union will see what we’re trying to do is nothing different to a normal day in Sydney, where we take stations offline for training, education, hazard-reduction burn-offs,” he said.