3 days ago
CFA staff start work bans as part of industrial action
Firefighting operations will be disrupted across regional Victoria as CFA union members take industrial action after six months of stalled pay talks.
Paid CFA firefighters are not performing some tasks as part of protected industrial action, following a wave of volunteer protests earlier this month over the state's controversial emergency services funding shake-up.
Professional, administrative, and technical union members are pushing back after what they said was six months of failed negotiations with CFA management.
The Australian Services Union (ASU) said workers have not received a pay rise since the end of 2023 and that management was "refusing" to come to the table with a reasonable offer.
ASU members will stop training, recording fuel management data and will divert calls and emails to CFA management.
They have also agreed to put all internal communications in red font and caps lock.
ASU VIC TAS branch secretary, Tash Wark, said CFA management had left workers no choice, and that the protected action was aimed "squarely at CFA leadership".
"CFA management are clinging to the government's 3 per cent wages policy while CFA executives quietly accepted pay rises of more than 4 per cent last year," Ms Wark said.
"It's an outrageous double standard, and our members have had enough.
"This is targeted, smart industrial action that does not impact the community or volunteers."
Minister for Emergency Services Vicki Ward has been contacted for comment.
