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On behalf of the VFBV Board and CEO, the following is an update on today’s legal proceedings. Download the Media Release here.
The VFBV injunction on CFA to prevent furtherance of a CFA/UFU EBA until there had been consultation on its content that affected the state’s 60,000 volunteers has been replaced by a more onerous undertaking by CFA to the Supreme Court.
As you would be aware, on Friday 10th June, VFBV applied and was granted a Supreme Court Injunction to require the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to enter meaningful consultation with us on the contents of the proposed CFA-United Firefighters Union (UFU) 2016 Enterprise Agreement, specifically those parts which may have an impact on CFA Volunteers’ organisational arrangements and volunteer operational capacity. Incredibly, as of writing, we are still yet to receive the actual current version of the Agreement that the Government have tried to tell everyone fixes all volunteer concerns, despite Government having not formally engaged in genuine consultation with VFBV on a single occurrence. Whilst the agreement has apparently been in negotiation with the UFU for over 1,000 days, Government has yet to provide VFBV a single day to hear and discuss volunteer concerns prior to decisions being made.
Our Supreme Court Injunction was due to expire today, Wednesday June 22.
Following the events of last week, where the Government sacked the nine members of the CFA Board due to their refusal to approve the agreement (despite the court injunction), and accepted the resignation of the CFA Chief Executive Officer Lucinda Nolan, we have been in correspondence with CFA as to how they envisaged to genuinely consult.
Following negotiations between our legal teams, overnight last night we reached agreement with the CFA on a proposal to not seek an extension of our initial injunction, on the basis that CFA provide written undertakings to the Supreme Court, which would provide VFBV with a court supervised process to ensure genuine engagement occurred with the new CFA Board and CEO. Supreme Court Justice McDonald consented and approved the lifting of the injunction on the basis that CFA make a legal undertaking supervised by the court to;
On or before the 24 June 2016, the CFA must provide to VFBV for the purposes of consultation, a copy of the proposed agreement to replace the current 2010 EBA
The CFA Chair & CEO and/or the Board is to meet with VFBV on the 8th July 2016 and at such further times as are mutually convenient to the parties for the purposes of consultation and to provide opportunity for volunteer concerns and impacts to be heard and considered
The CFA is not permitted to initiate the EBA approval process prior to the 20th July 2016
And CFA is required to provide VFBV 3 business days’ notice of its intention to sign or agree to a new EB on or after the 20th July
At approximately 10:45 this morning, Supreme Court Justice McDonald issued a Court Order binding CFA to the above agreement. We are told the Court order has the same basic legal affect and penalties as the injunction, but in addition provides us further assurances.
What’s the difference between an Injunction and a Court Order?
In layman terms, an injunction is a court order NOT to do something, whereas a court order can also order CFA to DO something.
Shortly following today’s court proceedings, the Premier released a Media Release under the title “Setting the Record Straight on the CFA Dispute” and stating amongst other things;
“The Government welcomes the lifting of the Supreme Court injunction.”
By only giving half the story, it would appear to be an obvious ploy to “spin” or mislead the public over what actually occurred in court today. We believe this approach goes directly to the Government’s credibility. We have attached a copy of the proposed consent orders agreed last night, that CFA solicitors were required to read out in court this morning in order to enter them on the record, so you can make your own mind up as to the governments version of events.
Make no mistake, today’s Court order requires CFA to genuinely consult with VFBV and volunteers, and we may make application to the court at any point if the orders are not complied with.
Next Steps
As soon as we are in receipt of the final versions that the government has stated includes new safeguards and changes, we will be providing all Brigades/Groups/Members access and opportunity to provide comment and/or feedback directly back to VFBV. We will also provide further analysis to assist you understand the document and help you identify if there are any impacts on you or your Brigade for your discussions. We will make all efforts to facilitate this process within the court deadlines, and have reserved our right to report back to the court on our progress. Your feedback will then be incorporated directly into our consultations with CFA. Time will be tight, so we encourage you to frequently monitor our website for any breaking news. CFA is required to provide the documentation by the close of business 24th June which is this Friday.
On a final note, we again remind members that we have no interest in the pay and conditions of our paid staff, and if the agreement only restricted itself to those matters, we would have no argument. We are seeking to preserve a CFA that is a fully integrated one where paid staff and volunteers work side by side as equals, respect each other on the basis of their competency and experience not their pay status, and work together in an inclusive and supportive organisation that works as one, and for the benefit of our communities and the Victorian Public.
We continue to advance the position of our members that any future final deal should not override or side-step the organisational and operational arrangements set out in the Victorian CFA Act, and we support the concerns as raised by our Ex Minister Jane Garrett, the Ex-9 Member CFA Board, the Ex Chief Executive Officer Lucinda Nolan, the Chief Officer Joe Buffone and the entire organisational leadership team, including the Deputy Chiefs, Assistant Chiefs and Executive Directors.
Among many other things, the CFA Act:
- recognises that CFA is first and foremost a volunteer based organisation in which volunteers are supported by employees in a fully integrated manner
- requires the CFA to develop policy and organisational arrangements that encourage, maintain and strengthen the capacity of CFA volunteers to provide CFA services
- requires the CFA (and Victorian Government) to meaningfully consult with VFBV and the 60,000 volunteers it represents on any matter that may affect them before relevant decisions are made.
‘Meaningfully consult’ means genuine consultation where, in this case, VFBV and its members can help shape the final decision by CFA (and Government where relevant).
