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More than 1500 firefighters are expected to rally in Melbourne’s CBD on Tuesday after wage talks between the Andrews government and the powerful United Firefighters Union (UFU) fell apart.
The union has been locked in a bitter stand-off with Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) for two years over its most recent pay deal and on Tuesday, the dispute will again hit the Fair Work Commission as members protest on the steps of parliament.
Firefighters union boss Peter Marshall addresses a rally in 2016.Credit: Justin McManus
In August, after months of negotiations, they were offered a deal that would increase their pay by 3 per cent and offer another 4500 firefighters an upfront $7000 payment.
This would have technically kept the deal within the state’s wages policy, which stipulates price hikes of no more than 3 per cent a year.
But talks have broken down, prompting union boss Peter Marshall to say on Monday that the Andrews government had “ripped up the enterprise bargaining agreement in firefighters’ faces”, a claim the government denies.
“As a result, professional firefighters’ safety and working conditions are now on the chopping block,” Marshall said.
“This is the last thing professional firefighters should be thinking about as they enter another difficult bushfire season.”
The latest dispute ignited after the UFU agreed to accept most parts of its enterprise agreement but asked the Fair Work Commission intervene to end the stalemate over wages and allowances by negotiating these terms.
Fire Rescue Victoria did not accept this proposal and instead sought to have all matters arbitrated by the Commission. The issue will go before the commission again on Tuesday.
The union has described the move as an “attack on all firefighters’ conditions” and accused the Andrews government of putting the safety of firefighters at risk as the state heads into one of the worst bushfire seasons since the Black Summer Fires of 2020.
Marshall described the arbitration as a “test case” to see whether a bargaining party can use industrial relation laws to unwind previously agreed matters.
UFU members played key roles in the Andrews government’s 2014 and 2018 election campaigns. Ahead of last year’s state election, the firefighters’ union threatened to campaign against the Labor Party in marginal seats over proposed changes to its compensation scheme for firefighters who develop cancer.
Marshall also announced he wanted an 8.6 per cent annual pay increase for firefighters, blaming high inflation and has pushed for a Firefighters Registration Board that would give the union power who could be employed for operational roles.
Since then, the government tabled its latest offer of 3 per cent, and additional one-off payments, on the condition the registration board proposal was removed from the agreement.
The two sides have also been fighting the commission over $100 million in savings from the creation of FRV, which the UFU wants paid out to firefighters.
With the latest breakdown of negotiations, Marshall said it had reaffirmed his belief that “all politicians are transactional”.
“We have seen politicians from all governments including the premier line up for photos with people who put their lives on the line to keep communities safe and now they are stabbing them in the back,” he said.
The UFU expects other unions to join with as many as 1500 professional firefighters from across the state to protest in Melbourne’s CBD on Tuesday in what it claims will be the largest firefighter protest in Victoria’s history.
“The government authorised FRV to put forward a fair pay offer in line with the government’s wages policy,” a state government spokeswoman said.
“Our priority is for FRV to continue to negotiate with the representatives of their employees on that offer.”
Pay deals with the state’s fire services have created political issues for the Andrews government since it was elected.
The late Jane Garrett quit cabinet in 2016 because, as emergency services minister, she would not endorse the government’s offer to the CFA.
The state’s integrity watchdog is also yet to release its finding from an investigation named Operation Richmond – secret report into the Andrews government’s dealings with the UFU.
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