The Union’s 107th Annual General Meeting will be held next month in two sections, with the opening meeting commencing at 1000 hours on Thursday 26 October at Trades Hall Auditorium, 377 Sussex Street, Sydney and the closing meeting resuming at 1800 hours on Tuesday 31 October at 97 Station, Huntingwood.
A further notice including the agenda and the times, dates and locations of related Sub-Branch meetings will be faxed to stations and posted on the Union’s website on Friday 13 October.
The RFS “north side club”
Some interesting proceedings in the current Parliamentary Inquiry into Emergency Services Agencies (see SITREP 29), with RFS management coming in for some unwelcome scrutiny on 18 September. Members are encouraged to read the full transcript by clicking here, and the exchange between Greens MLC David Shoebridge and RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons at pages 31-33 in particular. In short, Shoebridge shone a spotlight on the Warringah-Pittwater cartel who have come to dominate the RFS and its senior ranks, and the Commissioner had no answer.
Mr DAVID SHOEBRIDGE: I think the figures deserve an explanation. Mr FITZSIMMONS: I cannot give you one.
This was certainly not news to the FBEU. When SITREP 13/2016 speculated about RFS HQ being relocated to regional NSW, we noted “the RFS bosses (for whom the daily commute from Sydney’s north shore is about to get a whole lot longer)”. They escaped that ordeal – a new RFS HQ is being built at Olympic Park – but it was interesting to see last week the RFS Commissioner and his fellow upper north shore acolytes floundering in unusually hostile waters.
In brief …
There is plenty going on (and still much to be resolved), including:
health and fitness testing and the 2017 Death and Disability Award, which returns to the IRC next Tuesday. Thank you to the many members who have provided valuable feedback on the draft fitness drill that was released with SITREP 32. The Department has now provided a revised drill for Union comment and members can find a link to this latest drill by clicking here;
the Department’s proposedresponse protocols, with the Union and Department to meet next week;
the Operational Support dispute (see SITREP 29), with further progress made in IRC conciliation proceedings held this afternoon and an increasing possibility of a settlement being reached when the dispute next returns on 12 October;
presumptive cancer legislation, with the Minister for Emergency Services confirming his support for this protection for NSW firefighters when I met with him last week. More to follow shortly.
Leighton Drury
State Secretary
For a printable copy of this SITREP please click here.
