Firefighters protest during their industrial dispute with FENZ. Photo: RNZ / Ruth Hill
Fire and Emergency has taken legal action against its union and one of its officials, following alleged threats and intimidation.
New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) officials are believed to have threatened and intimidated volunteers to stop them responding to emergencies using the most appropriate equipment during strike periods.
The union is also alleged to have condoned and aided the conduct, so FENZ has begun legal action in the Employment Relations Authority.
"I think the public would be appalled to learn officials of the NZPFU appear to have sought to stop volunteer firefighters going on callouts with the most appropriate appliance," FENZ chief executive Kerry Gregory said.
"We rely on volunteers to ensure the community remains protected, including during strikes, and in 2025, this kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable.
"The alleged behaviour includes seeking to deter volunteers from responding to incidents during the NZPFU strike action and preventing them from deploying the most operationally appropriate resources to an emergency callout.
"We respect the right of people to take industrial action, but the alleged behaviour puts the community at risk and creates an unsafe workplace. We will not stand for it."
Earlier in December, the Employment Relations Authority referred Fire and Emergency and the NZPFU to independent facilitation to help make progress in ongoing negotiations for a collective agreement. That facilitation continues.
"We also call on the NZPFU to call off its planned strikes for this Friday and Boxing Day," Gregory said. "It's reckless for the union to keep putting the community at risk, while we're engaged in independent facilitation to help us reach a settlement.
"Fire and Emergency will continue to engage in the facilitation process in good faith, with the goal of reaching a fair and sustainable settlement. At the same time, we will do everything necessary to protect our team members and the wider public against behaviour that puts them in danger."
NZPFU denies allegations, will defend legal action
New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union national secretary Wattie Watson said the union denied the allegations.
The union said it believed the legal action was a reflection of FENZ's increasing frustration with the support many volunteers have articulated or demonstrated in many ways, since NZPFU members began taking strike action.
"FENZ immediately issued a public statement across the organisation and to media about their legal action, and that behaviour supports our belief that their end goal is to try and portray conflict and friction, when the reality is a camaraderie in their dedication to serving and protecting the public.
"The volunteers are facing many of the same issues that the NZPFU is fighting for and have voiced their frustration that it appears only the NZPFU are fighting against FENZ's mismanagement of critical funding.
"FENZ is using every tactic it can muster, but our members will continue to act in a professional way and continue to foster the good working relationships with volunteers.
"It is FENZ management that are attempting to intimidate volunteers. In the NZPFU bargaining dispute in 2022, FENZ threatened volunteers with disciplinary action, if they spoke out about the issues they were facing, which ran parallel with issues the NZPFU membership was raising, including unsafe and unreliable fire appliances."
The matter has also been refereed to police.
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