This morning’s Special General Meeting of members held over the last six days has overwhelmingly endorsed all three motions put forward for the consideration of the Unions rank and file membership. The results of those votes are as follows:

It is now crystal clear that the Union notice of 22 January 2008 titled “About medical certificates and medical records” ruffled the Department’s feathers. That’s because the Department took the Union to the Industrial Relations Commission on 18 April 2008 about it. In turn, the Industrial Relations Commission has recommended that the Union publish a new notice that states ‘that medical certificates supplied to the Department must state the nature of the illness or incapacity as well as the period for which the employee is unfit for duty.’ So this notice does just that.

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On Thursday April 10th the Department provided the Union with a document in response to our claim for wage parity with Australian Capital Territory firefighters. That document was amongst the most confrontational and inflammatory grabs at our wages and conditions since the Board of Fire Commissioners. The document was at the same time served on the NSW Industrial Relations Commission as a counter claim on our wages and conditions, served up for final arbitration by the courts.

The Department took penny-inching to a new low in the IRC this morning when it argued for more than 90 minutes for the Retained Award’s “C” grade monthly retainer to be cut by 10 cents. Ten lousy cents!

The Union’s application for the new interim award increased the C retainer from $105.80 to $108.50 per month. But the Department’s team (two lawyers, an Assistant Commissioner and a Chief Superintendent) turned up this morning to argue tooth and nail that it should instead be $108.40.

Reason prevailed only when the judge ruled in our favour and ordered a new rate of $108.50.

For anyone wondering why we have not been able to reach agreement over new permanent and retained awards, this sort of pedantry goes a long way to explaining the problem.

For all of the accusations and counter-accusations made about this issue over the past week, the Union’s concerns about the system required in order to have traffic infringement notices lifted were shown to be well founded.

Click here for the correspondence between the Union and Department

The Department and Union have agreed to the introduction of an electronic Pre-Incident Plan reporting system. The Union understands that the necessary changes to the data collection requirements have now been completed and as such, the bans imposed on electronic Pre-Incident Plans on 21 December 2007 are lifted upon receipt of this notice.

Members are reminded that bans imposed by way of Union notice remain current until lifted by way of a further notice signed by the State Secretary.

Most members are now aware that the relationship between Union and the Department has recently darkened. Not since the Department attempted to cut the relieving corps, destroy the promotional system, increase out-duties and remove the rank of Senior Firefighter have relations been so strained. Read more…

Members would be aware of the memo from Metro South 3 Zone Office dated 20 March 2008 regarding a proposed trial of single pump responses to identified AFA installations within the Liverpool Local Government Area. Read more…

As members are probably aware, the media has today widely reported on the farcical situation regarding traffic infringements that the Union first brought to members’ attention in our notice of 20 March. Read more…

The Retained Sub-Branch meeting held over last weekend to consider the Union’s draft Award application and authorise the State Secretary to seek an interim award concluded at 9am yesterday morning with near-unanimous support for the recommended motion (450 members in favour and only 3 against). Unfortunately, a further 22 votes supporting the motion could not be counted due to a lack of quorum of at least 7 members at each meeting.

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