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Firefighters walked down Hibiscus Coast Highway with placards about lack of resources, health issues and low pay, twice last month as part of an unprecedented nationwide strike.
The Friday protests were well supported – although there are only four career crew at Silverdale, many more marched with them including firefighters from other stations, family and friends and community members. Almost every passing car tooted in support.
Further strikes planned for this month were put on hold following an announcement on September 1 that the parties were to resume talks.
Silverdale senior station officer, Steve Robinson, says that has got to be a positive sign.
“No firefighter wanted to walk off the job, so it’s good that the strikes are suspended, and they are back at the table,” he says. “But we have been protesting about issues that are crucial to the service we provide.”
He says local crews are stretched and Silverdale’s main truck is 27 years old – one of the oldest in Auckland’s frontline fleet. Its engine is patched together.
Robinson says although the population is booming on the Coast, the resourcing through Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) is not keeping pace.
FENZ is funded by insurance levies and figures quoted by Newshub suggest that around $6.3m is raised annually on the Coast, while the budget for both Silverdale and Manly Fire stations last year was $744,000.
FENZ regional manager, Ron Devlin, describes that levy figure as “speculative” and says insurance companies do not provide FENZ with the locations that levies come from – it all goes into a general funding pool “so we can provide equal and consistent protection for all communities across NZ”.
“Fire and Emergency does not budget or allocate resources to an area based on revenue,” Devlin says. “Each area’s operating budget is based on the community’s need.”
He says the need is assessed through detailed information such as the number of properties, vehicles, parks, and terrain, locations of motorways and main roads.
“When looking at the future needs for the Hibiscus Coast, we listen and talk to a wide range of stakeholders and regularly meet with Auckland Council.”
Robinson says it would be good for everyone involved to know FENZ’s “magic formula” for allocating resources.
“It should be transparent so everyone can understand how it works and why resources are allocated,” Robinson says. “Locally the growing number of properties, population and our distance from backup which is 20km away, should surely be in the mix.”
Silverdale has four paid crew (the Yellow Watch) who work Monday to Friday, 7.30am-5.30pm. Volunteers are available 24/7 during the week as backup and also cover weekends. As well as its own callouts, Manly station’s volunteer-only crews also provide backup for Silverdale (and vice versa). Further backup can be called in from stations in the East Coast Bays and Albany.
Robinson says career firefighter numbers have been static in Auckland for over 34 years, while the population has tripled.
“We are calling for an increase in numbers to reduce workload and provide greater cover to our rapidly growing community. More pay, and better health and wellbeing provisions are needed. In addition, the fire appliance fleet needs urgently upgrading as breakdowns increase the risk to communities and firefighters alike.”
He says locally, adding another fire station would be best for the whole community. The other option is for Silverdale to be staffed with at least one, 24/7 paid crew, seven days a week but that would potentially impact on volunteers, he says.
“At the end of the day, we want a resolution that works for all the career crew and the volunteers. We are hopeful that this new mediation will see our concerns addressed. We should be working together – every firefighter wants the resources and support that enables us to provide the best service for the community.”
The NZ Professional Firefighters Union and FENZ have entered facilitated mediation. While they talk, there is a hold on any strike action – this deal remains in place until September 30.
Backstories, February 21, 2022
