On Thursday 9th December we will hold our social event – the Fire Brigade Employees’ Union Rex Threlfo Annual Toast. Each year members come together and celebrate the contributions of our newly retired members. This year we also invite our new recruits to join us as special guests. In its sixth year, The Rex as it is fondly known, is an afternoon short on speeches and big on comradery.
Tickets include drinks and canapés. Recently retired members and new recruit firefighter members are reimbursed the cost of their ticket. Tickets are limited and available here: https://www.trybooking.com/BSWOZ
We hope you can join us in Sydney on Thursday, 9th December 2021 at 12 noon. Please assist us by spreading the word particularly to recently retired members and new recruit members you work with – for more information contact the office atoffice@fbeu.net
The venue is bound by the Public Health orders, and restrictions may change.
Award update
Our Permanent and Retained Awards were gazetted on 29 October 2021 with backpay distributed this week.
The FBEU has identified issues with the versions of the awards published by the IRC Registry and have contacted FRNSW who agree that there are anomalies. The parties are meeting next week to resolve this issue and will report back to members as a matter of priority.
Workplace Health & Safety update
This week Safework NSW handed down a report to FRNSW with recommendations relating to their obligations under the WHS Act. The take home points are as follows:
Failed WHS consultation is a business risk to the organisation. FRNSW must consult with workers and their representatives
FRNSW managers who interact with WHS must be aware of FRNSW’s legal obligations. Training has been recommended for these managers
HSR’s must have ownership of the process and systems of consultation. Consultation will not be a tix-box process for the employer
This is an important re-set of the relationship with FRNSW. The FBEU will be corresponding with the HSR network shortly to discuss the next steps.
Vaccination mandate update
As reported in Sitrep 61, it was our expectation that FRNSW would come back to the table to discuss their position on the vaccination mandate. It is disappointing to note that this has not occurred.
There has been no legitimate consultation on the risk assessment said to inform the FRNSW position nor has there been any consultation on a policy or process to fairly manage individual circumstances.
The matter has been escalated to SafeWork NSW who will be in touch with the FBEU early next week.
We have also been waiting on the COVID-19 Vaccination Policy which we had been told that we would receive Wednesday but received this afternoon. We will be going over the policy in the coming days and seek member input once we have made an initial assessment.
