By Peter Douglas
WITH the Victorian fire season just months away, CFA brigades in the Yarra Ranges face ongoing instability, with the contentious enterprise agreement again in limbo.
After the Country Fire Authority (CFA) board on Friday, 12 August, seemed to have finalised a pay deal through the EBA, their drawn-out efforts were halted, with the Supreme Court of Victoria deeming the agreement should be the subject of a trial.
In what is a temporary victory for Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV), the trial is scheduled to start on Thursday, 22 September, which will be just days before the fire season looms.
To put this in perspective for CFA brigades, on 30 September last year it was the beginning of a controlled burn racing out of control at Lancefield, as temperatures hit 30 degrees.
Meanwhile in the Yarra Ranges outbreaks began in early October, with a two-hectare fire in Yellingbo.
Meanwhile, the EBA dispute continues to plague the CFA, with the VFBV announcing its disappointment on the Friday, after it seemed the EBA would progress further.
“Today is a day of infamy that will burn into the memory of every CFA volunteer,” the VFBV told its members.
“It is the day that a CFA board decision, and those board members who voted for it, betrayed volunteers and ignored their responsibility and obligations to the public of Victoria.
“This evening, the CFA board, made up of a majority of the Andrews Government-UFU (United Firefighters Union) – ‘yes’ people, accepted the UFU’s EBA.”
Member for Eildon, Cindy McLeish, also hit out, labelling the deal a “stitch-up”.
“(Victorian Premier) Daniel Andrews has stitched up the signing of the UFU’s checklist EBA by appointing his own hand-picked CFA board,” he said.
“This is yet another slap in the face to the 60,000 volunteers who are being ignored.”
Ms McLeish also claimed the board’s approval of the EBA had been released before the board had even met to discuss the matter.
“The board met last Friday night, with the statement from the chair announcing that the CFA board had endorsed the EBA initially published, distributed and time-stamped at 10.36am – five hours before the board even met,” she said.
However, the VFBV was quick to reveal to its members the Supreme Court bid.
“Our injunction to suspend the processing of the UFU EBA, because it contains clauses contrary to the CFA Act affecting volunteers, will be considered by the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning,” the VFBV told members.
Ultimately, the VFBV was successful, at least temporarily, with the EBA vote being postponed until the conclusion of the trial, during which it is expected past and present CFA board members will be involved.
Meanwhile, the postponement earned the ire of the UFU, with UFU Secretary Peter Marshall offering a scathing response to the VFBV’s efforts.
“Victoria’s fire services are not a political plaything,” he said.
“Victorians rightly expect career and volunteer firefighters to get back to work, protecting them with the onset of another fire season.
“Instead, the VFBV continues trying to divide career and volunteer firefighters and undermine morale by spreading misinformation and launching politically motivated legal action.”
Also adding to the uncertainty around the agreement is the fact the Liberal Party made a federal pre-election commitment to block the enterprise agreement.
During a visit to Belgrave in June, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop used the opportunity to declare the party would not “stand idly by and allow a Labor Government to unionise a volunteer organisation of 60,000 people”.
Meanwhile, Minister for Employment, Senator Michaelia Cash, recently reiterated the government would address issues in the CFA deal through amending the Fair Work Act.
* The ‘Mail’ attempted contact with District 13 members over the upcoming fire season. However, representatives failed to respond before deadline.
