VFBV Requests for Meaningful Consultation
MESSAGE TO ALL MEMBERS
This update is to provide you information concerning VFBV’s attempts to enact the provision of the CFA Act and Volunteer Chart that obligate the State of Victoria to genuinely consult with volunteers through their representative body (VFBV) on any matters that may affect them, before decisions are made.
• The State Government has not accepted a single one of VFBV’s requests to meet and discuss our concerns to date
The chief demand of the VFBV throughout the CFA-UFU negotiations has been that we must be included in meaningful consultation with the Government and the CFA over the content of the EBA as it may affect volunteers. This demand is simply for the rights of volunteers to consultation – to be heard and views considered based on volunteer knowledge and experience - on matters that may affect them as specified in the Volunteer Charter and given legal force by the CFA Act.
Meaningful consultation means that we would be given the details of those matters, have the opportunity to fully assess them from the perspective of volunteers, consult with our membership and help shape the final words in discussion with the relevant decision makers to ensure volunteer interests are represented and protected.
From the outset we have made very clear that we have no wish to discuss or voice a view over pay, allowances, leave, and other conditions applicable to individual paid firefighters. In our view, they are properly matters between CFA as the employer and the UFU representing paid staff.
But as we have seen from past operational staff industrial agreements, there is an increasing tendency to include matters in UFU-CFA EBAs which affect volunteers in regard to support, availability of adequate training, equipment, volunteer rights and the way in which we deliver CFA services to Victorians.
We have also witnessed increases in union power over a variety of CFA management and leadership matters under UFU EBAs that are supposed to be matters that are the strict role of the CFA Board, CFA CEO and, importantly, our Chief Officer. Volunteers are both directly and indirectly affected by the establishment of greater union influence and power over such matters.
For example, the issues of determining staff numbers and rank allocation of paid staff to brigades, appliance staffing and operations on the fireground, including reporting relationships are, under the CFA Act, matters under the control and responsibility of the Chief Officer. Yet the Chief’s power to determine these matters is reduced, and in some aspects eliminated under the terms of recent EBAs. In other words, an EBA registered under the federal industrial Act incorporating changes in the organisation and operation of CFA in accordance with the Union’s agreement trumps those established by Victorian law, in our case the CFA Act and,where relevant, the Emergency Management Act. As we have previously advised, we understand that the drafts of the proposed 2016 EBA contain clauses that go well beyond the union’s influence and powers under any previous EBA.
It is these aspects of the proposed EBA that we wish to be consulted upon and in turn consult with brigades and their volunteers in a meaningful way to inform and help shape any EBA related decisions by Government and the CFA to reflect volunteer concerns.
We wrote to the Premier and Minister for Emergency Services on 30 May 2016, outlining our concerns over the then proposed 2016 EBA. In that letter we advised that we had sought to pursue our concerns in conferences of the Fair Work Commission but that our application to participate based on the interests of volunteers affected by the proposed agreement had been denied. Finally, we proposed three simple amendments to the agreement that might significantly alleviate our concerns. The following day we wrote to each member of Cabinet seeking meetings to discuss our concerns over issues contained in the then draft of the proposed 2016 EBA. Only a handful of ministers have replied with courtesy letters referring us to the Minister for Emergency Services.
Following recommendations by Fair Work Commissioner Julius Roe regarding a further draft of the EBA incorporating minor changes and his further recommendations for minor change we again wrote to the Premier (and Deputy Premier in his role as acting Premier) and the Minister for Emergency Services.
In our letters to them dated 7th June we urgently requested that they initiate consultation with VFBV on behalf of Victoria’ 60,000 CFA volunteers on any matter that may affect volunteers (in the EBA) prior to any relevant decisions being made. A letter of request for consultation in similar terms was also submitted to CFA on the same day.
The following day we received an acknowledgement of our correspondence signed by the Premier and Minister for Emergency Services sent from the Premier’s Office. Their letter stated in part:
We understand you wished to be informed of developments around the proposed CFA enterprise agreement and have asked Emergency Management Victoria and the Department of Premier and Cabinet to make arrangements to meet with you about this.
This response failed to understand, deliberately or not, that there is a major difference between the meaningful consultation we had sort as per the legally binding Volunteer Charter and merely being informed of developments.
It was then determined to arrange for our solicitor to send legal communication to both Government and CFA to make absolutely explicit the terms and manner of immediate consultation required and undertakings that there would be no decisions on the EBA until the completion of consultations in accordance with the Volunteer Charter and the CFA Act.
We gave them until close of business on Thursday 9 June 2016 to respond to our letter.
CFA responded within the due time saying they would abide by the CFA Act (and therefore the Volunteer Charter) once they were in receipt of the final version of the EBA for consideration.
At the time of writing we have received no further response from the Victorian Government to our requests.
Attached to this circular are copies of the following letters for your information and that of other volunteers:
- VFBV letter to Premier dated 30th May 2016
- VFBV letter to the Premier dated 7th June 2016
- Premier (and Minister’s) acknowledgement, undated but received 8th June 2016
- RobinsonGill representing VFBV letter to Premier dated 8 June 2016
- RobinsonGill representing VFBV letter to CFA dated 8 June 2016
Please distribute through your networks.
Premier announces Minister Jane Garrett's Resignation
The Premier has this morning announced the resignation of Minister Jane Garrett from Cabinet. You can find the announcement here;
Minister Garrett has been honourable, honest and values driven. We will have more to say shortly.
Video of Volunteer's showing their respect for her principled stand, captured last Sunday in Melbourne;
For those who may not have known Minister Garrett well, a copy of her Inaugural speech is below, which we encourage you to read to understand a little bit about her integrity and values;
ADDRESS-IN-REPLY – JANE GARRETT’S INAUGURAL SPEECH
Ms GARRETT (Brunswick) — Thank you, Deputy Speaker, and congratulations on your appointment. I also congratulate the Premier and his cabinet, and the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow cabinet, on their appointments. To my fellow new members on both sides of the house: well done.
I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we stand, the people of the Kulin nation, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.
It is an extraordinary honour to be standing here today in this house as the newly elected member for Brunswick. The seat of Brunswick in many ways is home to and reflects the essential foundations upon which Melbourne was built, and I believe it captures some of the best our community has to offer. It is a place of great multicultural diversity where the contributions of generations of migrant families from across the globe have helped create a fascinating and dynamic area.
It has a proud and distinct industrial history as a place where a wide array of goods has been produced and where workers have fought hard for better terms and conditions of employment for themselves and their families.
It is a community in which activism flourishes, where generations have been committed to making progressive values a reality — to welcome refugees, to stand against discrimination, to fight for freedom of speech and to deliver social justice.
It is a place that has been at the forefront of respect for our environment, leading the way on sustainability at the local level and on changing the way we live. It is a rapidly growing community with a diverse range of people flocking to the area, including families with small children, students, artists, young professionals and musicians. It is where my family comes from.
Six generations of Garretts have lived in Brunswick, commencing with my great-great-grandmother, Sarah Garrett, well over a century ago. Through these generations my forebears have run small businesses, raised their children, been elders in the churches and cared for their community. During the depression my great-grandparents opened their home to strangers in need, a home that my great-grandfather built in Whitby Street, West Brunswick. A builder by trade, he ran a business on Melville Road — Ralph Garrett and Sons — that my grandfather, Jack, took over and expanded.
My great-grandmother, Mabel, ran a tailoring shop on Sydney Road, just opposite the Brunswick Baptist Church where my father was minister during my childhood. My maternal grandparents, Ern and Dulcie Routley, settled in Pascoe Vale South after moving from country Victoria where they raised my mum, who was head prefect at the then Coburg High School.
It is against the backdrop of that history and within this community that my ideas and values have been shaped. My father is a theologian and a man of the cloth, and my mother was a passionate English teacher who worked in public education for her entire career. My sister, Catherine, and I were raised in this inner city community in a home teeming with visitors where our parents held social justice group meetings every fortnight, and we were regulars on the public demonstration circuit.
It was sometimes a bit hard to explain to other kids in the playground why they could not come around on a particular weekend, because we were having the social justice Christmas party that day, or what the big yellow sticker on our old family car, which said ‘Uranium mining, no thanks’, meant.
The particular values that become part of the fabric of your being through how you were raised and what you may embrace or reject are many. For my part the most important value I believe I was given, and which forms the basis for all I strive to do, is respect: respect for the dignity and worth of others, respect for rights, respect for the legitimate and universal aspirations of people to reach their full potential and to provide for themselves and their families.
I want to invoke the biblical ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.
I want to invoke the modern day blockbuster comment ‘I see you’, which is a powerful line in the film Avatar that the characters use in the context of saying that they see each other as they really are, beyond the prejudices or constraints that come from social constructs, class or cultural divide. Time and again people suffering disadvantage, either systemic or sudden, talk about the pain of being invisible to the community, of being ignored or forgotten or dismissed; it is literally a feeling that the world sees through you.
One of the strongest memories I have from my childhood is eating dinner with my family at a regular weekly night out at Papa Gino’s on Lygon Street. I was about 10 and chatting away when the waitress served our meals, and I completely ignored her. My dad touched my arm — I can still see his face now being as grave as he had ever looked — and said, ‘Jane, you were very dismissive of that person. You must never ever behave like that. You must look people in the eye and thank them for the work they do’. Again, I see you.
Of course to properly see someone you must also hear them. You must listen to them to understand their story, their journey, and appreciate their aspirations for the future. I believe that if you see and if you hear, you are compelled to acknowledge injustice and inequality where it exists, and it is here that you must also act.
It is not fair or right that people should be discarded, discriminated against or made to feel invisible. It is not fair or right that people should be left behind, trapped in cycles of poverty or exploited and used. It is not fair or right that people should go to work uncertain of their job security, their health and safety on site or their capacity to provide for their kids. Respect is to see, respect is to hear, and respect is to act.
The great mentors of my life in my opinion have held at their core the importance of respect, from Justice Alan Boulton, who took me on straight out of university and showed me the world, to Steve Bracks, for whom I had the privilege of working for several years, to Sharan Burrow, from whom I learnt so much, and to Andrew Grech, managing director of Slater and Gordon, who was my boss for six years. These are people who have achieved great things and done so because they wanted to make a difference to people’s lives, to improve their working standards, to care for the vulnerable, to create a strong economy that shares its fortunes more broadly, to give people just compensation when they are injured, and they did that while treating those around them, regardless of their status or position, with respect and care.
For me it is respect that is at the heart of the Labor Party tradition and values — a tradition that was borne out of working men and women standing up for a fair deal, for recognition of work done, for the right to earn a decent wage, come home safe and have a say in their futures. It is a tradition borne out of people insisting that all sections of our community, regardless of wealth, ethnicity, gender or sexuality should be encouraged to make the most of their lives, rise above their circumstances, have a first-class education, access to the best public health system and the capacity to shine. It comes from people who do not accept the status quo but who question and challenge and fight for a more equitable and just and inclusive society.
I have strived to pursue these goals throughout my working life. I have worked since I was 15 in a range of roles that kids do every day that teach you the importance of a good boss, award wages and active unions.
Throughout my career as an industrial relations and discrimination lawyer, a senior adviser to the Bracks government and a local councillor and mayor, I have sought to stand up for people, to give a voice to those who have been disenfranchised, to push for good public policy that is guided by fairness of outcome, courage of conviction and generosity of spirit.
The commitment to these values has brought me here as the representative for the community from which my forebears and I were raised. This diverse and rapidly changing area has many different needs and aspirations. I will fight to ensure that Brunswick receives the services it needs to flourish, including in education, child care, health and transport, and that the many commitments that were made by Labor are realised in this term.
I will be working closely with the community to continue and expand the extraordinary outcomes this area has already achieved in sustainability and environmental progress.
I will be working closely with community groups to find solutions to the very real pressures we face with respect to the livability of inner urban areas, I will be vigorously pursuing innovative ways to protect and enhance the vibrant artistic culture that has developed in the inner north, and I will be working hard to represent the progressive values of the Brunswick electorate as a member of Parliament and a member of a strong opposition within the ALP and in a future Labor government.
There are many people to whom I owe a great deal of gratitude and are the reason I am standing here today. The recently retired member for Brunswick, Carlo Carli, with passion and skill represented the people of this area for 17 years. I congratulate him on his work and his legacy, and on behalf of the community wish him well in the next phase of his life. I thank him and Siobhan for the invaluable support they gave me throughout the Brunswick campaign over the last 18 months. This campaign was hard fought and it was intense.
It taught me many things; perhaps most importantly it was not to take a single vote for granted or ever forget how and why I am in this place. Hundreds of dedicated ALP branch members and volunteers worked tirelessly to make this campaign a success. I thank them all and acknowledge, in particular, the efforts of Dean Rizzetti, Chris Anderson, Khaled Chakli, David Clement, Bill Kneebone, Danny Michell, Sarah Broadbent, Sean Nilan, Rima Tawil and Sonia Ahmad, many of whom are here today. It is this group of people that now forms the basis of our team in Brunswick, and I am delighted that so many outstanding people are working with me in both volunteer and paid capacities.
To my parliamentary colleagues, and in particular the inner city members, Richard Wynne, Bronwyn Pike and Fiona Richardson: no finer proponents of the Labor tradition are to be found.
To those people I have worked with and learnt so much from on my political journey: I acknowledge and thank in particular Steve and Terry Bracks, John Brumby and Rosemary McKenzie, Rob Hulls and Carolyn Burnside, John Thwaites and Melanie Eagle, Sharon McCrohan, Tim Pallas and Ben Hubbard. I make special mention of Andrew Giles who has been a very significant support to me for in excess of a decade, and I thank him.
To the team at Slater and Gordon: what a law firm! I am very proud of the work that is done there and the calibre of people who are so committed to fighting for justice.
To my colleagues and comrades in the union movement, in particular those at the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the plumbers union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union, the Australian Nursing Federation, the Australian Services Union, the United Firefighters Union, the Police Association, the Transport Workers Union and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union: your work changes lives and it changes society.
I also acknowledge and thank the many people who I worked with at the City of Yarra — the councillors, staff and residents — and note in particular the exceptional CEO, Andi Diamond. To our extraordinary group of friends, some of whom are here — Adam and Nina, Mary and Christian, Nick and Felicity, and Christine and Matt — I say thanks.
Finally, and most importantly, is my family.
To my father, Graeme: you have been the single biggest influence on my life, and you are an outstanding individual. To my dear sister, Catherine — and to your family, Cameron, Tom and Harry: you are a true lifetime friend. My beautiful mother, Pam Garrett, who we lost so cruelly to ovarian cancer in September 2009, would be so proud today. In so many ways the reason I have chosen this path is because of what she taught me and how she lived her life. She walked the walk. Thanks, Mum. My husband, James, is the perfect person for me to be journeying this life with. Thank you for being here. To my daughters, Molly and Sasha: you are gorgeous, spirited, creative and loving and an endless source of joy.
We in this house are charged with a great responsibility: to speak for our communities and to work towards a prosperous and just Victoria. I commit that I will discharge this responsibility with all the energy and capacity available to me. More broadly, I will be striving to ensure in the work that I do in this place that more people more often can rest their heads at night under safe roofs and say to themselves, ‘The world saw us today, it heard what we had to say and it was grateful for the contribution we made’.
(Hansard – 8 Feb 2011)
CFA/UFU Enterprise Bargaining Agreement – Thursday, 2 June Update
VFBV rejects the Fair Work Commission’s recommendations and the premise that it is able to be a fair and independent umpire in this case
- The new CFA EBA Update says the Board still has serious concerns
- See the proposed CFA/UFU Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (note: large download)
- See how to raise the issue, including signs you can download
Fair Work Commission recommendations
The Fair Work Commission has issued recommendations on the CFA/UFU Enterprise Bargaining Agreement that represent the threat of union control over CFA.
Download the Fair Work Commission’s recommendations here
VFBV had applied to consult with and assist the Commission (see VFBV’s letter here) in understanding the impact and overall effect of various union clauses in the proposed agreement, particularly regarding the delivery of CFA protection to the communities it serves.
Our application to be heard on these issues on behalf of CFA volunteers was rejected by the Commission. This was despite the fact CFA volunteers comprise 97% of CFA’s workforce and large parts of the proposed Agreement directly affects them.
The recommendations are unacceptable to CFA volunteers; they are totally inadequate in ensuring that CFA remains an effective volunteer and community based fire and emergency service in the face of a union representing just over 1% of the CFA workforce trying to take control.
If implemented the amended Enterprise Agreement will mean the progressive dismantling of the CFA as a volunteer and community based fully integrated service.
CFA Board
CFA has issued a new Operational EBA Update (2 June 2016), explaining that the CFA Board met to review the recommendations and is seeking further advice.
In its update, the CFA Board pointed out that the recommendations are for consideration and not binding, and it remains seriously concerned about the implications.
The Operational EBA Update says CFA is concerned with parts of the proposed EBA that would affect the Chief Officer’s ability to allocate and deploy resources, include a union veto over CFA decisions, negatively impact on volunteers and BASOs, and be discriminatory.
The CFA Board is seeking further discussions with the State Government on the operational and financial impacts on CFA.
What you can do to support CFA and volunteers
See the Herald Sun article online – this includes an online opinion poll.
Download signs for use in your local area
Note: Posters may be printed up to A2 size.
Concerned? Email or call your local MP or your local newspaper.
Talk to your VFBV State Councillors or your Brigade Delegates about taking action in your local area.
New to the EBA issue?
Keep reading for recent VFBV and CFA updates that look into why the volunteers, CFA senior managers, the CFA Board, CEO and Chief Officer, and the Minister for Emergency Services are all so concerned.
1 June 2016
HERALD SUN ARTICLE - VFBV'S LETTER TO THE PREMIER - POSTERS FOR VOLUNTEERS
Following the Herald Sun’s front page article today - VFBV has verified the Herald Sun’s main points and is confident that this is an accurate report of the events that took place yesterday in the Commonwealth’s industrial relations commission, called Fair Work Australia, and is cause for great concern and alarm.
As we advised on Monday, on the back of statements by the Premier and senior government Ministers who have stated that the Commission is a “fair and independent umpire”, VFBV sought leave on behalf of CFA volunteers to appear to assist the Commission understand the effects and impacts that some of the proposed industrial agreement clauses would have on CFA volunteers and their capacity to serve the community. Despite volunteers making up 97% of CFA’s workforce, that the proposed Agreement had widespread negative effects on CFA volunteers and despite the Volunteer Charter being enacted by the Victorian Parliament as law, the Commissioner has advised us that our request to be heard on your behalf was denied.
Volunteers are now pleading with the Premier, the Cabinet and all Victorian MPs to do what the industrial umpire did not: have the decency to hear our concerns, properly consider them, and protect volunteer firefighters and the Victorian public from any negative impacts.
The CFA CEO, Chief Officer, Board, Operational Command, Volunteers and the Minister are all united against the adoption of the proposed Agreement and are all saying the same thing - the proposed agreement, even with the slight changes recommended by the industrial commissioner, will significantly impact on volunteers and their capacity to effectively serve the community as well as impact on CFA’s ability to make decisions. On any other day that would be enough.
We have requested the Premier ensure that CFA’s capacity to make timely decisions on operational and other resource allocation remains unencumbered, and to make it explicit that the UFU industrial agreement is not to override or set aside relevant Victorian legislation or to marginalize CFA volunteers or relegate them to a lesser role than paid staff.
We are fielding many calls from volunteers who are disenfranchised and some who are considering resigning. We urge you to please not make any hasty decisions. Our communities still depend on us, and we have always met that commitment with our utmost dedication. There is still time for our Victorian Cabinet Ministers to listen to us, respect the work you do and heed our message. This does not mean members should not start planning for the worst and escalating any local actions to raise concerns with MPs, local councils and other bodies. We also need you to be ready if further action is required. These are testing times and we remind members that volunteers have no quarrel with our paid firefighter’s pay and conditions, and we want those sorted quickly. Please remain respectful of each other. We are taking a principled, moral and values driven position, and these values should guide our decision making.
Today and tomorrow may set the scene for the future of CFA. Members are urged to continue emailing and writing their local Members of Parliament, especially Cabinet Ministers who may be deciding the outcome of this matter this week. You should ask how volunteer views and concerns are being considered if they have not been allowed to be properly put in the current process. You should ask if they will personally protect you and your community’s volunteer firefighters from any impacts that may retard or reduce their capacity to protect the community.
Any inclusion of anything (other than pay and conditions) that seeks to control, demoralize or disregard volunteer firefighters is just morally wrong and we need our leaders to stand up on our behalf and respect the commitment provided to us through the Volunteer Charter which states;
That the Victorian Parliament’s & CFA’s policy outcomes are to be judged against the following principles;
Is it fair?
Is it just?
Is it reasonable?
Does it discriminate against volunteers?
Is the outcome practicable and sustainable?
Is it in the best interests of the safety of the Victorian community?
We should expect no less.
Handy Downloads for Volunteers
Here is some additional information, and resources to assist volunteers in raising the issue:
VFBV’s Letter to Premier Daniel Andrews
Posters
Note: Posters may be printed up to A2 size.
27 May Update
The Fair Work Commissioner is considering final submissions on the CFA/UFU Enterprise Bargaining Agreement dispute and is expected provide potential next steps to resolve the matter soon, possibly on Monday 30 May.
CFA issued a new Operational EBA Update on Friday, 27 May 2016 - you can see that new CFA update here.
You can read CFA's 18 May Operational EBA Update - click here to download - issued 18 May 2016
Statement from CFA Board 12 May 2016:
We are deeply saddened by reports of deteriorating relationships between volunteers and staff in some areas.
Many volunteers have told us they do not want to get involved in genuine negotiations about pay and conditions of staff, and nor should they.
They do, however, have a right to raise concerns over potential decisions that directly impact them, and CFA is required to consult on these issues.
We once again ask all members to be tolerant of each other's views and for everybody to treat each other with appropriate respect.
At a recent Board meeting, we discussed our desire to see a resolution to the EBA discussions as soon as possible, but reconfirmed we will not negotiate on the inclusion of certain clauses being sought by the UFU.
These clauses would:
• remove or diminish the ability of the Chief Officer to allocate and deploy resources flexibly and with agility
• require agreement or provide veto to UFU over CFA management decisions
• restrict or negatively impact on volunteers and BASOs.
We do want to emphasise that we remain committed to consulting extensively with our membership on any significant changes that impact them, their safety or their terms and conditions. The position we have taken does not diminish this in any way.
The UFU presented these clauses in a draft EBA to the Victorian Government.
We believe it would be beneficial if all members covered by the proposed agreement had access to the current proposal (version 17.1) so that you are appropriately informed about the discussions, issues and impacts.
As this is a UFU document, and not CFA’s proposal, we have written to the UFU to seek their agreement to make it available to their members.
Tomorrow, we will be attending a Fair Work Commission hearing, which was requested by the UFU. We will be presenting what we can and can’t agree on.
We will continue to update you on developments.
From CFA Board
(John Peberdy, Ross Coyle, Michael Freshwater, Katherine Forrest, James Holyman, John Schurink, Michael Tudball, Samantha Hunter)
Posted on the CFA website, 4pm 12 May 2016
STATEMENTS FROM MINISTER GARRETT AND THE CHIEF OFFICER - 11 MAY 2016
Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett has told Nine News, “I do have grave concerns about some of what has been in various logs of claims from the UFU.”
“We want this resolved as quickly as possible but it will be on terms that look after all of our firefighters.” (Nine News, 11 May 2016)
And CFA Chief Officer Joe Buffone has issued a statement saying “there has been much debate devoted to negotiations around a new enterprise bargaining agreement” and that “there has also been misinformation that needs to be corrected.”
He says the current EBA log of claims includes clauses “that will adversely impact on volunteers and CFA’s ability to run the organisation in a way that will best serve all Victorians.”
You can read his full statement in the Weekly Times here.
CFA VOLUNTEERS' MOTORCADE OF SUPPORT
CFA volunteers held a motorcade of fire vehicles through the streets of Melbourne on Saturday 23rd April, 2016, to demonstrate their support for the CFA and Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett. Fire vehicles came from all corners of the state to converge on the city. See TV coverage here: SBS TV News, WIN TV News Gippsland, ABC TV News
The Minister and CFA have been sidelined by the Premier, Daniel Andrews, who is reported to have done a secret personal deal with Firefighters’ union secretary, Peter Marshall which would see the Union gain significant control over CFA operations as well as achieve massive pay and allowance increases.
“The CFA and the Minister were negotiating with the union in good faith for a reasonable financial settlement for paid firefighters but would not agree to surrender proper management and operational functions or to marginalise volunteers as the Union demanded”, Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria CEO Andrew Ford said.
“It has become clear to volunteers that in recent days the Premier went behind the Minister’s back and reached a deal with Peter Marshall which gives the union virtually all it wants,” he said.
“And that includes marginalising experienced and qualified volunteer firefighters who are committed to volunteer community service and flooding the organisation with unneeded extra paid staff to replace thousands of urban volunteers without increasing public safety.
“The cost implications of the Premier’s sell-out are huge, with the fire service levy on households and business expected to significantly grow year on year for years into the future as more and more volunteers are replaced by paid employees under the union’s system.
“The name “The Marshall Plan” will have a totally new meaning.
“Where’s the money coming from? Out of our pockets of course!
“It’s ironic that after capping municipal rates and charges the government’s fire service levy, which municipal councils’ are required to send out on their rates notices, will grow like topsy.
“The public safety implications are particularly troubling. If you undermine, deactivate and progressively push out volunteers, who will provide Victoria with a surge capacity to respond to major fires and emergencies?
“And if you are substantially reliant on paid staff be prepared to pay overtime, penalty rates, extra shift allowances, meal allowances, accommodation costs and allowances as well as the wages that will be required to have sufficient paid staff available.
“And remember they are going up by 19% under the Andrews-Marshall industrial deal.
“Daniel Andrews either hasn’t thought this through or just doesn’t care.
“Jane Garrett has demonstrated that she has thought this through, understands the issues and details and repeatedly demonstrated she does care.
“The CFA Board and its leadership, including CEO Lucinda Nolan and Chief Fire Officer Joe Buffone know what’s at stake in respect of cost and operational capacity to keep Victorian’s safe.
“That’s why volunteers are mobilising to support Minister Jane Garrett and the CFA and its leadership.”
For all inquiries ring the VFBV office on 9802 0501.
New awards for Victorian Volunteers
State Government media release - Sunday 27 October 2013
The incredible contribution of Victoria's volunteers will be recognised by a new state award, the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Award, Premier Denis Napthine announced at a garden picnic event at Cruden Farm near Langwarrin, today.
Dr Napthine said the Victorian Premier’s Volunteer Awards recognise the outstanding contribution volunteers make to the community, with the top award named in honour of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, who was one of Victoria's great philanthropists.
“Dame Elisabeth Murdoch was a generous, humble and loving benefactor. Her life was about improving other people’s circumstances,” Dr Napthine said.
A volunteer from Moe, Mr Darell Benjamin OAM, who has raised almost $1 million for the Royal Children's Hospital, was named as the state's first Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Award winner at today's event.
“Mr Benjamin is a terrific winner of the first Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Award. He represents the genuine grass roots community volunteer who are the heart of the soul of many local communities across the state,” Dr Napthine said.
Mr Benjamin, 85, has been raising money for the Royal Children’s Good Friday Appeal since 1978. In 2004 he was awarded the Latrobe City Citizen of the Year award and in 2008 he received an Order of Australia Medal for his year-round fundraising efforts.
Mr Benjamin’s significant contribution to the community includes his involvement with the Moe Lions Club and as a group leader for intellectually, physically and mentally handicapped Boy Scouts.
As part of the award, Mr Benjamin received $10,000 for his chosen charity.
Dr Napthine also announced the members of the Awards Committee, who would provide advice on nominations for the awards, which from 2014 will include the following categories:
· Victorian Volunteer of the Year - The Dame Elisabeth Murdoch
Award - $10,000 to chosen charity.
· Senior Volunteer of the Year - $2,000 to their chosen charity.
· Youth Volunteer of the Year - $2,000 to their chosen charity.
· Regional Volunteer of the Year - $2,000 to their chosen charity.
· Metropolitan Volunteer of the Year - $2,000 to their chosen
charity.
· New Resident of the Year - $2,000 to their chosen charity.
The Awards Committee includes Mr Craig Lapsley, Fire Services Commissioner Victoria and Board Member Volunteering Victoria, Mrs Janet Calvert-Jones, Murdoch family member and Ms Julie Pettett, CEO of Wimmera Volunteers.
The Committee will be chaired by The Hon Jeff Kennett AC, the Chairman of beyondblue, which has successfully worked to improve services and change attitudes to depression and anxiety since 2000.
“There are about 1.5 million volunteers in Victoria who give their time and effort to improve the lives of people in hardship. Volunteer work is not just about helping others, it’s also about making our society a better place for everyone,” Dr Napthine said.
More than 100 volunteers from charity organisations across Victoria attended the event at the beautiful garden setting of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch’s home.
