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Managerialism gone mad

October 16, 2008


After over thirteen years of safe and effective minimum crewing levels for every professional fire brigade throughout the State, the Department is now set to publish ‘In Order 2008/22’ on Friday October 17th. This is a single issue In Order with the sole and express purpose of undermining minimum crewing levels and shutting up to 34 brigades throughout NSW. The Union will again make it absolutely clear that no pumper in the NSW is to leave its station unless a minimum of four members is available to respond from that brigade – this includes every retained brigade in NSW.
Our Union won safe and effective minimum crewing for permanent members in 1983 and for retained members in 1995. We won these standards because we campaigned hard for them and because ours is an industry that involves unavoidable risks. Those risks can only be covered by having two firefighters available on the fire-ground for every two firefighters inside a burning building or Hazmat hot zone.
No amount of cost cutting, pager sharing or allegations of rorting will mitigate the risks that each of us are exposed to should management succeed in winding back minimum crewing.
The safe minimum crewing level of four firefighters is an internationally recognized standard and has delivered us one of the lowest rates of death or injury amongst fire services throughout the world.
The Department now looks certain to finally publish the list of brigades that the Department referred to as ‘superfluous’ in 2006. The list includes all thirty four brigades the Department proposes to close rather than recruit additional retained firefighters or supplement staffing levels through the use of permanent or retained firefighters. In the time since the NSW Industrial Relations Commission first handed the Department authority to no longer fully staff all brigades throughout NSW, the FBEU has been very clear and very up front in refusing to accept brigades being closed. Each of these brigades provides an essential service to its community and no amount of budget cut backs can justify closing fire brigades.
It should come as no surprise to any member of this Union that at the very time the Premier of NSW is calling for Government Departments to reduce costs we are told brigades must close. The Premier should now make the tough call on shutting front line fire brigades or slicing through the layers of senior public service fat cats.
Any member concerned that your brigade is now be facing closure should contact the Union’s retained sub branch secretary firefighter Darren Maxwell 404 Station New Lambton on:
Mobile: 0408 027 155 or brigade 4952 8855
Simon Flynn
State Secretary


After over thirteen years of safe and effective minimum crewing levels for every professional fire brigade throughout the State, the Department is now set to publish ‘In Order 2008/22’ on Friday October 17th. This is a single issue In Order with the sole and express purpose of undermining minimum crewing levels and shutting up to 34 brigades throughout NSW. The Union will again make it absolutely clear that no pumper in the NSW is to leave its station unless a minimum of four members is available to respond from that brigade – this includes every retained brigade in NSW.

Our Union won safe and effective minimum crewing for permanent members in 1983 and for retained members in 1995. We won these standards because we campaigned hard for them and because ours is an industry that involves unavoidable risks. Those risks can only be covered by having two firefighters available on the fire-ground for every two firefighters inside a burning building or Hazmat hot zone.

No amount of cost cutting, pager sharing or allegations of rorting will mitigate the risks that each of us are exposed to should management succeed in winding back minimum crewing.

The safe minimum crewing level of four firefighters is an internationally recognized standard and has delivered us one of the lowest rates of death or injury amongst fire services throughout the world.

The Department now looks certain to finally publish the list of brigades that the Department referred to as ‘superfluous’ in 2006. The list includes all thirty four brigades the Department proposes to close rather than recruit additional retained firefighters or supplement staffing levels through the use of permanent or retained firefighters. In the time since the NSW Industrial Relations Commission first handed the Department authority to no longer fully staff all brigades throughout NSW, the FBEU has been very clear and very up front in refusing to accept brigades being closed. Each of these brigades provides an essential service to its community and no amount of budget cut backs can justify closing fire brigades.

It should come as no surprise to any member of this Union that at the very time the Premier of NSW is calling for Government Departments to reduce costs we are told brigades must close. The Premier should now make the tough call on shutting front line fire brigades or slicing through the layers of senior public service fat cats.

Any member concerned that your brigade is now be facing closure should contact the Union’s retained sub branch secretary firefighter Darren Maxwell 404 Station New Lambton on:

Mobile: 0408 027 155 or brigade 4952 8855


Simon Flynn

State Secretary



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