Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Fleur Fitzsimons: PSA National Secretary on the proposed restructure of Fire and Emergency NZ

Transcript

Fleur Fitzsimons: PSA National Secretary on the proposed restructure of Fire and Emergency NZ · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: FENS is proposing to cut more than one hundred jobs
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: nothing on the front line. They say it needs to
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: save seventy million dollars a year, ten percent of its
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: annual budget. Eight hundred million. Of this, the majority, vast majority,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: comes from levies that we pay through insurance FLURF. That
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Simon's is the PSA National secretary with me this morning
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: for good morning.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Good morning.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: There's a difference between how many jobs they say are
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: on the line and how many. You say, what's the difference?
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Why the difference?
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: So we've counted through their document. There are two hundred
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: and sixty page document. We've looked at the number of
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: roles we think are going and new roles being created.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: We tried to check those numbers with FENDS, but they
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: wouldn't give us confirmation. But actually we say none of
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: these jobs should be going because by reducing these roles,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: we will make New Zealanders less safe when it comes
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: to protecting us from natural hazards and fires and emergencies.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: So they say a net one hundred and forty positions,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: you're saying how many.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: We say a net loss of one six y nine.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: But regardless, New Zealand cannot afford to lose these specialists.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: All right, So what jobs are we talking about? Not frontline?
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Right, there are sorts of jobs that work on prevention,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: operational response. We're seeing them get rid of wildfire specialists.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: We're really concerned that the people that support the front line,
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: so the people that for example, do the administrative work
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: around volunteer firefighters, are being cut significantly. Some of those
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: people have been there for thirty years, They've learnt how
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: to do their job very very well, they do it
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: very efficiently. They've given a lot of service to New
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Zealand and we're just throwing them on the scrap peek.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: It's unreal how many wildfire specialists do we have and
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: how many would be we be reduced to.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: This is the thing with this proposal. A lot of
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: the numbers are a lot of the roles going are
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: putting jobs into other roles. So lifted throughout the proposal
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: is other people will pick up this work. So there
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: will still definitely be a core of people left at FENS.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: But actually ten percent reduction in a workforce is decimating
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: that works. The test of what decimating is it is
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: decimating this workforce.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Many of what what's the test of decimating. Sorry, ten
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: percent is considered decimating a workforce.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a military term and it is it is
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: what you can what you do to make something less effective,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: and that is what they are doing. They are driving
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: down effectiveness.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Of size doesn't mean efficiency. Size doesn't mean you're doing
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: a good job. A good job is done when a
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: good job is done. So the question is the question
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: is are these jobs mission critical and FENS seems to
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: be saying they're not.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: SENS has had this forced on them by the government
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: that is forcing these cuts. FENS doesn't think that it
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: can operate in this way in the Why.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Why is the government forcing these cuts when the vast
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: majority of their funding comes from us through levees?
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Well, the government refused to let sends increase the levee
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: they are also requiring further cuts. It is a dereliction
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: of duty by Brook van Valden. Her job is to
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: make sure that Fire and Emergency in New Zealand can
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: keep New Zealand as safe from fires and natural disasters.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Her job is not to force these kind of cuts
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: that will make it less able to do its core functions.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: All right, FLU appreciate your times wanting flu fit Simons
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: from the PS eight. For more from Early Edition with
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talks at BE from
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio