Glebe firefighters prepare to meet their member

BY DHEEPTHI NAMASIVAYAM

Representatives from Glebe Fire Station will meet with local member Verity Firth this week in a bid to gain support for their wage-increase campaign.

Sydney’s CBD was gridlocked last week, when firefighters and other public sector workers staged a stopwork protest against the State Government’s planned cuts to their wages and employment conditions.

The state secretary of the NSW Fire Brigade Employees Union, Simon Flynn, said the average firefighter receives about $20 an hour, with no penalty rates for working weekends or public holidays.

Firefighters have rejected a 2.5 per cent pay rise, which they say is inadequate given the current 4.5 per cent inflation rate.

Mr Flynn warned that if their needs were not met, the Government could expect further industrial action.

‘We’ll do our very best to make sure the community’s safety is not compromised in any way,’ Mr Flynn said. ‘But [if demands are not met] the union’s political and industrial campaign will escalate and there is likely to be more days where communities don’t have fire protection,’ he added.

Other Government plans include the proposed closure of certain NSW fire stations and the relocation of firefighters. Glebe’s stationmaster and FBEU president Chris Windsor said this would mean that fire stations across NSW would be understaffed.

Verity Firth told The City News that she was aware of the campaign, but had only been in contact with local firefighters in the last fortnight.

Mr Windsor said he was optimistic about the meeting: ‘I’m pretty sure that Verity will be in support of us, the fact of trying to get a pay rise,’ he said. ‘She’s always been in support of the fire brigade and anything to do with fire safety.’