The Fireman Columns
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Most Recent Column in The Fireman - December 2007
Joint Meeting of Associations/Meeting with Senior Volunteers
On Sunday 25th November, a joint meeting between members of the VRFBA State Council and the VUFBA Governing Body was held. This meeting took the place of separate scheduled meetings of both Associations.
Items of business from brigades and Regional Councils were discussed by all delegates and appropriate actions agreed upon. Many items of business will now be taken up with the CFA on behalf of brigades and their volunteers.
The meeting adjourned at 11.00am to allow the delegates and other senior volunteers from around the State to discuss a growing level of concern at an apparent erosion of volunteer rights and a growing disconnection between the CFA Board and Management and volunteers, and the failure of the CFA Board and management to acknowledge or act on these concerns.
Some of these concerns centre around the Board’s decision to negotiate the Career Firefighters EBA which continues to include clauses adversely impacting on volunteers despite previous assurances that these clauses would be removed; ignoring the recommendations from the Structural Apparel Working Party and making a compromise decision on structural PPC; stipulating that brigades had to work under the CFA ABN by 30th June 2008 and their failure to discuss this decision with the Associations; a suggestion from the CFA Board that a legal deed be drawn up between CFA and the Associations protecting the rights of volunteers; lengthy delays in addressing many volunteer issues.
At the conclusion of the meeting, those in attendance gave unanimous support to a course of action aimed at overcoming the current unsatisfactory position.
The two Associations returned to their meeting and confirmed their understanding of, and concern about, the growing lack of confidence in the CFA Board, CFA Management and the Government’s commitment to protect volunteer rights and the CFA as a volunteer based culture. The meeting also authorised VFBV to communicate this growing lack of confidence to stakeholders and to determine any other appropriate action as may be required.
Unified Body Discussion Paper
In September this year, VFBV released a discussion paper outlining proposed changes to unite the VFBV, VUFBA and VRFBA as a single unified body to represent all CFA volunteers. The paper was issued to all Brigades, Groups and Association Regional Councils requesting discussion and feedback by end of December this year. A number of responses have been received and these will be used to develop a final proposal and position paper for release by early February 2008 with the intention of being ready for vote on the issue at a joint meeting of the VRFBA and the VUFBA in April. Feedback is important and Brigades, Groups and Regional Councils are reminded to give this issue their consideration and provide feedback on this important issue.
Single Stage Ladder – Medium Pumper
Brigades which have a Medium Pumper issued to them will be pleased to know that the CFA Ladder Review Committee has recommended to the Chief Officer, that a 4m single stage ladder be approved for these appliances.
Brigade Owned Vehicles
It is no wonder that we become frustrated with the CFA from time to time. Since 2002, the Associations have been requesting the CFA to convene a meeting of the Brigade Owned Vehicle Working Party to discuss policy issues surrounding these vehicles and the amount of the allowance paid to brigades. We are still waiting for the CFA to set a date for the Working Party to meet.
Administrative Support Needs of Brigades Project
This project is in its final stages with the consultants Kokkin & Brown providing CFA with their final report.
The consultants met with a wide range of stakeholders whilst undertaking the project including many members of brigades throughout the State. It was generally agreed the administrative support to brigades can be considerably improved and that there is a wide variation in the delivery of this support across the State.
Kokkin & Brown have valued the honesty and openness of all stakeholders involved throughout the project. They also recognised there was a significant concern that the project would not eventuate into the required changes but at the same time CFA staff and volunteers had consistently given their time and shared their thoughts in a cooperative and positive manner.
Bill Rodda and Bob MacDonald represented the volunteer bodies on the stakeholder reference group.
The full report can be accessed at brgdadminspt@cfa.vic.gov.au or at Brigades Online.
VFBV Prepares Submission
The Minister for Police & Emergency Services, Bob Cameron has requested County Court Judge Gordon Lewis to carry out an enquiry in to the reasons why it has taken so long to select a new structural personal protective ensemble for firefighters both paid and volunteer.
Along with CFA, MFESB and UFU the volunteer bodies were each invited to present a submission on the matter. We decided that VFBV would prepare a submission on behalf of the Associations and such submission would have the full support of VRFBA and VUFBA.
The VFBV submission goes into the reasons we saw for the extended and repeated delays and is supported with significant supporting documentation. We have also submitted a statement from an expert witness in Brett Hume who was the Assistant Commissioner in NSW who chaired the PPC procurement committee for the NSW Fire Services. Brett is now a volunteer member of Nyora Fire Brigade in South Gippsland.
On Thursday 13th December we have been invited to meet with the Judge to provide an oral submission in support of our written submission.
Peter Bishop, Hans van Hamond, Bob Horner and John Kennedy have all provided much of the documentation supporting the submissions.
Joint Research & Development Committee Meeting
A meeting of the Joint Research and Development Committee was held on 2nd December. The Committee is made up of six representatives from each Association along with research staff from CFA.
The Committee was briefed on the need to put forward to the Federal Government a new bid for funding of the Cooperative Research Centre into Bushfires as the current funding runs out in 2009. Since the introduction of the CRC some 70 Equivalent Full Time Researchers have entered the field of Bushfire Research as well as 44 PHD or Masters Students.
Information on the various research projects can be obtained on the Bushfire CRC website which currently receives some 20K hits per month.
Updates were provided to the meeting on the personal flotation devices being developed for marine brigades, Emergency Medical Response project and a new fire resistant curtain material for covering tanker windows etc.
Hoses have recently come under consideration again with trials being conducted on percolating hose for use in particular applications. Major fires in past few years have led to large quantities of hose being burnt at significant cost. Research is also being undertaken on cross woven hose as opposed to the transversely woven hose we currently contract for.
2008 Open Forum
VFBV and the two Volunteer Associations will again be conducting a Joint Open Forum and representatives from all CFA brigades are invited to attend.
VFBV, the VRFBA and the VUFBA, encourage all brigades to send delegates to the Open Forum to receive direct feedback on the operations of VFBV and the two Associations, and brigades are given the opportunity to raise directly any other issues of interest or concern.
The Open Forum will be held at the Whitehorse Club, 298-336 Burwood Highway, East Burwood on Saturday 29th March 2008, commencing at 1.00pm. Further details will be provided to all brigades.
The Chairman and Board Members of VFBV and the Presidents and Members of the VRFBA and the VUFBA, wish all volunteers, CFA members and families, a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year.
