Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / United Firefighters Union Secretary Wes Garrett says aviation firefighters are considering strike action at Darwin Airport next month due to staff shortages

Transcript

United Firefighters Union Secretary Wes Garrett says aviation firefighters are considering strike action at Darwin Airport next month due to staff shortages · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: But as we know this morning, teachers, power and water
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: workers and corrections officers, well they're not the only ones
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: walking off the job for better pay. Firefighters at Darwin
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Airport are considering going on strike during the Christmas period
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: the United Firefighters Union Aviation branch as secretary. Where's Garrett
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: joins me, Now, where's good morning? How are you?
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katy? Thanks for having me.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I'm well, thanks for having us, Saul, thanks for coming
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: on the show. What are the concerns of the airport
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  Speaker 1: firefighters in Darwin at the moment?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Primarily our concerns revolve around staffing numbers, minimum staffing numbers. Now,
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  Speaker 2: aviation is a highly regulated industry and aviation firefighting is
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  Speaker 2: no exception to that. So KASSA approves the minimum staffing
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  Speaker 2: levels for aviation rescue firefighting stations around the country. And
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  Speaker 2: what we're trying to bring to people's attention, or the
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  Speaker 2: traveling public's attention, is that those levels are not being
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  Speaker 2: met today.
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  Speaker 1: And so why has it got to the point where
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: strike action is required.
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  Speaker 2: We're looking for a clause in our Enterprise Agreement to
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  Speaker 2: put a framework around minimum staffing and to basically recognize
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  Speaker 2: the international standard or there's an organization called the International
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  Speaker 2: Civil Aviation Organization that sets the framework and the methodology
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  Speaker 2: for determined determining sorry minimum staffing, and we're looking to
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  Speaker 2: have that recognized in our enterprise agreement if we had
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  Speaker 2: this prior to COVID. And the reason that we're one
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: hundred fire fighters short is because their services incentivized the
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  Speaker 2: retirement of one hundred firefighters during COVID. Now that the
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: border restrictions have been rolled back, aviation obviously has come
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: back very strongly domestically and internationally, and we are caught
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  Speaker 2: short at the majority of our twenty seven stations around
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  Speaker 2: the country.
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  Speaker 1: So how many aviation firefighters do we actually have here
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  Speaker 1: in Darwin compared to the number that we need?
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  Speaker 2: So pre COVID in Darwen there were forty six firefighters
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  Speaker 2: full time employees at the Darwin station. Today there are
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  Speaker 2: thirty six. So there's ten less firefighters in Darwin than
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  Speaker 2: what they're previously was. And that's a pretty that's a
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  Speaker 2: pretty consistent reduction at many many stations around the country.
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  Speaker 2: Darwin is one of them.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, right. And is it a specialty to be
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  Speaker 1: a fiery in aviation?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, aviation firefighting is very specialized field. And as
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  Speaker 2: I've said, aviation generally is a highly regulated industry. So
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  Speaker 2: a firefighters need to have very specific competencies in training.
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  Speaker 2: It's equipment, which is all aviation specific what sets us apart.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not sure if people are familiar with aviation risky
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  Speaker 2: because usually our stations are airside, not really totally visible
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  Speaker 2: to the public. But our trucks very different trucks. They're
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  Speaker 2: much larger, they're specially built to deal with large hydrocarbon fires.
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  Speaker 2: They have big monitors on the roof, they produce foam.
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  Speaker 2: So the equipment, the train, very specialized field, and yes
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: it is. It's a horses for causes proposition when it
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  Speaker 2: comes to firefighting. Yes, we're all firefighters, but an urban firefighters, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: is a very different job to that that's provided by
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  Speaker 2: aviation rescue firefighters.
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  Speaker 1: And so is there a concern here around pay as
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  Speaker 1: well or is it more so those numbers?
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  Speaker 2: Those numbers are a primary concern, and that is why
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  Speaker 2: we've got a bit of a national We've got national
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  Speaker 2: attention actually obviously around this, and this is a perfect
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  Speaker 2: opportunity for us to let people know that the staffing
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  Speaker 2: numbers that are approved in this country today by KASSA
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  Speaker 2: are not being met on a regular basis around the
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  Speaker 2: country and this is a this is unacceptable in a
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  Speaker 2: first world country like Australia.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Where's what impact could this industrial action have on airport
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  Speaker 1: operations and is it likely to happen over that Christmas break?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, AD Branch Committitey of Management are still working on
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  Speaker 2: what the framework of the work stoppages will look like
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: as far as the dates, locations, durations, etc. But as
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  Speaker 2: has been publicized in the news media today, we have
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: basically an indefinite period that we can roll these stoppages
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  Speaker 2: out from it began actually back on We've got the
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: decision from fair Work on the eleventh of November. But
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: basically there's an infinite and indefinite time frame that we
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: can use any of these work stoppages moving into the.
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  Speaker 1: Future where some people listening are going to be thinking
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  Speaker 1: why do it over Christmas when it's going to impact
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  Speaker 1: all of us?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, I would say that the primary consideration should
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  Speaker 2: be here about having adequate buy and rescue resources available
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  Speaker 2: at the airport that you're taking off from and at
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  Speaker 2: the airport that you're arriving to. And that those services
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  Speaker 2: should be must be consistent with international safety standards. And
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  Speaker 2: that's why o FI I've got it feels so passionate
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  Speaker 2: and important that we bring this to the public's attention.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Well United Firefighters Union Aviation Branch Secretary where Garrett, I
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for coming on and
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  Speaker 1: giving us a bit of an explainer as to what
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: the situation is.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much for having me.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you