By VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS
PAKENHAM CFA has accused state political parties of using the CFA as ‘pawns’ in the latest dispute, and is confident the union dispute will not affect its service to the community.
Pakenham CFA First Lieutenant Michael Corzelius said the outrage over the proposed union enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) had been blown out of proportion, and volunteers at Pakenham were as dedicated as ever.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds, and is really a political and leader beat-up more than anything else,” he said.
“We are being used as pawns between State Government parties.”
Mr Corzelius said the volunteer and paid firefighters at Pakenham had a great working relationship and the proposed EBA would have no effect on their work.
“We have always worked together in a team and have a great friendly environment.
“This EBA has no effect at all on us as a team.”
The three-year dispute between the United Firefighters Union (UFU) and the State Government reached tipping point last week when the CFA board refused to sign the agreement.
On Friday 10 June then Minister for Emergency Services Jane Garrett stood down from Cabinet rather than force the board to sign the agreement.
Deputy Premier James Merlino quickly took over the portfolio and dismissed the CFA board after their continued refusal to sign the agreement.
The CFA put forward 14 objections to the proposed agreement that they argue disenfranchise and disempower CFA volunteers as well as causing a major disruption to firefighting operations.
However, paid and volunteer Members of Pakenham CFA have said the proposed EBA would not change the way they operate.
Station officer at Pakenham CFA Andrew Smith said the agreement was still up in the air, but the relationship between paid staff and volunteers was solid.
“We’ll have to see what the wash up at the end of the day is, but as far as Pakenham CFA is concerned we can’t see how it will impact on volunteers,” he said.
“All the CFA volunteers here are supporting us and we support them.”
While the volunteers at Pakenham CFA are in agreement with the proposed EBA in regards to pay and conditions, officer-in-Charge for Cardinia Jim Dore said the parts of the EBA affecting volunteers should be removed.
“I’ve been a permanent employee of the CFA for 37 years, and I believe there are things in this EBA that are unfriendly for volunteers,” he said.
“Volunteers don’t want anything to do with staff pay and conditions and the parts that affect volunteers need to be removed from the EBA.”
Despite Mr Dore believing some of the EBA clauses are unfriendly to volunteers, he was sure that firefighters in Cardinia Shire could maintain good working relationships.
“From my point of view, on the fire ground, the volunteers and staff are very professional, and operationally I can’t see any effect on staff or volunteers,” he said.
Mr Smith said he was disappointed how the disagreement had been played out, but all firefighters at Pakenham would be putting the community first.
“There is really no change and while it’s a trying time for both volunteers and full-time staff, we don’t see that there is any change in the relationship we have in Cardinia.”
