By PETER DOUGLAS
THE ongoing enterprise bargaining dispute between the CFA and United Firefighters Union (UFU) threatens to create complications for local emergency services crews.
According to Emerald SES Unit Controller Ben Owen, there exists genuine fear among emergency services volunteers the row could cause disunity and friction among crews, particularly when attending an incident.
Mr Owen said the SES enjoys a close working-relationship with CFA volunteers, paramedics and police officers in the Dandenong Ranges.
But he hopes the dispute won’t jeopardise response efforts.
“We have built up a good relationship and we hope the new EBA (enterprise bargaining agreement) doesn’t cause any animosity,” he said.
“From an emergency management point of view, we work very well with them.”
Mr Owen said the local SES Unit was closely monitoring events.
“The lack of information is what is most frustrating,” he said.
“We only know what we’ve read online, from friends and what’s been reported in the media.
“Obviously we’re only a few weeks out from an election, but we are worried about a media beat-up.
“(But) I know that close friends are upset, which makes you think it’s something serious, but there’s a lot we don’t know.”
Mr Owen said there were concerns over how the SES would respond to incidents in the future.
“We don’t know whether we’ll even do road-rescues, so should we keep training our volunteers … I just don’t know.”
The issue, as it relates to the Dandenong Ranges, came to a head in Belgrave last Saturday 18 June, where La Trobe MP Jason Wood and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop declared the Liberals would attempt to block any moves to allow the EBA to pass.
However, under-fire Labor Premier Daniel Andrews and the UFU have both this week publicly defended their actions.
The UFU has even called on the Liberals to withdraw a website they say is trying to capitalise on the dispute.
UFU national secretary Peter Marshall said the website in question sought political donations, while feigning support for volunteers.
“People registering concern on the site are not aware they become part of a Liberal Party database that then received emails, asking them to donate money to the Liberal Party,” he said.
“This site exposed the cynicism of the Federal Liberal Party in trying to create division between volunteers and career firefighters for their own base political purposes.
“It is distressing to see volunteer firefighters being fed lies and then whipped up by politicians who should know better.”
In an open letter, Mr Andrews this week said there were many myths being perpetuated.
“The role of volunteer firefighters in this state is sacrosanct,” he said.
“At no stage has our government questioned it or jeopardised it; it’s time to debunk the lies of this nasty scare campaign.”
Mr Andrews said the need to dispatch seven firefighters to a fireground is limited to only the 34 integrated stations in highly populated areas.
None of the stations are within the Dandenong Ranges.
Mr Andrews said there is no veto power in the agreement, and the agreement states the role of volunteers is not altered by the agreement.
“There have been a lot of lies told about the new CFA agreement,” he said.
“And these lies are causing unnecessary concern for volunteers and the communities they protect every single day.”
In addition, the CFA announced on Wednesday 22 June that the Supreme Court injunction had been lifted.
Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) has agreed to a CFA proposal to continue consultation about the proposed agreement.
This consultation will continue over coming weeks ahead of the proposed agreement being able to be put to a vote no earlier than Wednesday 20 July.
