News

Appointments to Country Station Officer Positions

March 14, 1997

The State Committee of Management recently considered a situation where a Leading Firefighter member competed against a Station Officer member for a substantive appointment to a Country Station Officer’s position. The Union has always held that where an applicant holds the substantive rank for the position, no junior rank applicant should be considered for the position.  This policy has been maintained so as to protect the operational rank structure within the job, which would be clearly undermined if Leading Firefighters could cut existing Station Officers out of SO level positions.

The State Committee subsequently resolved as follows, which is henceforth to be considered as Union policy binding all members:

“That this meeting both reaffirms and clarifies the Union’s policy that where an applicant for a Country Station Officer’s position possesses the rank of Station Officer,  no Leading Firefighter applicant is to be considered eligible for that position.”

For clarification, where no Station Officer member applies for a Country Station Officer’s position, a suitably qualified Leading Firefighter shall be considered eligible under this policy.

Members seeking further information should contact the Union office or their elected representative.

Michael Wright

for

State Secretary

14th March, 1997