NSW Health has issued new advice for Sydney and the Blue Mountains with masks becoming mandatory on public transport from 1600hrs today and strongly encouraged in all public indoor venues. Members that live or work in these areas should familiarise themselves with the advice available here and follow instructions where applicable.
All FRNSW Zones remain at Level 1 but please continue to check the FRNSW Intranet for any changes and we will continue to monitor any developments closely.
Off Shift Training
We recently filed a dispute in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission regarding off shift training. The dispute is around how Clause16 Training Course Attendance Entitlementsof the Permanent Award is interpreted, specifically, what rate of pay applies in instances when you attend training on a day you are otherwise rostered off.
We had agreed to meet with FRNSW to discuss the matter further, with the first meeting taking place Wednesday 16 June 2021. We have argued that overtime rates apply when firefighters attend training on rostered days off however, FRNSW hold the view that firefighters are temporarily transferred to a special roster and as such are not paid overtime.
We welcome FRNSW’s willingness to continue discussing the matter and aim to have further discussions in the coming weeks. We will update members in due course.
In-Order 2008/22 Update
SitRep 2/2020 reported on the ongoing dispute over FRNSW’s attempts to remove In-Order 2008/22 and replace it with new In-Orders which would make significant changes to the way that Retained appliances can be taken off-line for staffing shortages.
FRNSW has been trying to increase the number of stations that can be taken off-line for staffing shortages, introduce Permanent move-ups to cover Retained staffing shortages, and remove references to minimum staffing in the In-Order.
We’ve consistently and strongly opposed these efforts and have had a number of significant wins in this dispute, while trying to resolve the matter without detriment to our jobs and service. The changes we’ve been seeking to make to FRNSW’s proposal would protect both you and the community.
Today in the IRC, the FBEU and FRNSW confirmed that we would not be able to find an agreed position on this matter so we will be back before the Commission in September for arbitration with a decision to come out of that.
In Brief:
The NSW state budget will be handed down next Tuesday 22 June 2021. Once again, we don’t expect much from it, not when the Liberal National Government has attacked firefighters’ pay and failed to invest in us and our services for the last 10 years. We’ll report back on what’s in, or not in, the budget in more detail next week.
The Sydney Morning Herald article on the NSW Government refusing to uncouple the fire and emergency services levy from local councils’ capped rates budgets to allow residents to see how much they are being charged by the state is worth a read.
Lastly, it’s great to see union merchandise getting out to so many members since the FBEU Shop The Shop currently stocks hoodies, hats and towels with beanies on the way.
