Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) faces ongoing legal and industrial action from the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) and the Public Service Association (PSA) over a proposed restructure that unions say was advanced without genuine consultation.
On Dec. 11, the unions and FENZ met in mediation arising from a joint application to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA). The application alleges that FENZ breached its obligations under collective agreements when it issued a restructuring proposal affecting risk management, operational structures, and staffing levels. The proposal, a 260‑page document released to staff on Nov. 11, outlined changes that could result in a net reduction of about 140 roles and affect around 700 positions overall, largely in non‑operational functions.
According to the unions, the document was provided without prior engagement, and the consultation window closed on Dec. 10 while FENZ continued to work toward a decision by late January and implementation in March and April. Mediation on Dec. 11 did not resolve the dispute. The NZPFU and PSA are seeking to halt the current process and want FENZ to withdraw the proposal; if that does not occur, they expect the matter to proceed to a substantive ERA hearing.
The PSA and NZPFU filed urgent proceedings with the ERA on Nov. 17. PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said: “FENZ has clear obligations in the collective agreements to consult both the PSA and NZPFU about proposed changes that impact its members – not just their consequences. FENZ only provided an embargoed copy of its proposal to the PSA the day before announcing it to staff.” She said the union had repeatedly requested consultation between Oct. 29 and Nov. 12 but did not receive it.
NZPFU national secretary Wattie Watson has focused on the impact on training and support roles. “The workers who face losing their jobs are all critical to ensuring firefighters access the training and support they need to respond to emergencies properly trained and resourced,” she said, warning of potential implications for career firefighter numbers, training continuity, and community resilience activities.
FENZ has stated that the reorganisation is intended to align its structure with changing emergency service demands, while indicating that front‑line operational firefighter positions are expected to be retained.
In parallel with the restructure dispute, collective bargaining between FENZ and the NZPFU remains unresolved, with a series of short‑duration strikes under way. Bargaining for a new collective agreement began on July 16, 2024, and the ERA ordered facilitated bargaining after concluding that the talks had become protracted. Facilitation sessions were held in Wellington on Dec. 9 and 10. The NZPFU has reported that the discussions did not deliver sufficient movement and has requested additional costings information from FENZ while it obtains independent costing of a counter‑proposal. With no further bargaining dates likely before year‑end, the union has continued industrial action.
The NZPFU staged a one‑hour strike on Dec. 5 and has scheduled further one‑hour stoppages from midday on Dec. 12, 19, and 26. The union reported strong participation in the initial action, involving communications centre dispatchers, volunteer support officers, trainers, and risk reduction personnel, along with retired members, current volunteers, families, and members of the public who joined pickets and marches.
The union’s national committee will decide weekly whether to proceed with each notified strike but has advised members and the public to assume that stoppages will occur unless cancellation is announced. In a message to members, Watson said the NZPFU would attend facilitation “in good faith, as we have all bargaining,” and alleged FENZ “continues to put false information in the public arena” and that the union would “use this opportunity to expose any such dishonesty before the authority member.” She cited “distrust and the plummeting morale in the workplace,” adding that a pay settlement on its own would not address broader relationship issues.
During each one‑hour strike, FENZ has said it will continue to answer 111 calls and respond to fires, but has cautioned that response times may increase in some locations. Dispatchers will direct volunteers from their local stations and appliances, as occurs during periods of multiple simultaneous incidents. To prioritise higher‑risk emergencies, FENZ has indicated that in some urban areas it may not respond to selected lower‑priority events, including automatic fire alarms with no visible signs of fire, small rubbish fires, traffic management support, and animal rescues, during the strike windows.
For insurance market participants, the disputes are closely tied to FENZ’s cost base and funding model. Around 95% of the agency’s operating budget is raised through levies on fire‑related components of building, contents, and motor insurance policies, with the balance funded from other government and non‑levy sources. Any sustained shift in operating expenditure therefore has the potential, over time, to influence levy settings and the fire service charges embedded in premiums.
FENZ employs about 14,900 people, operates roughly 1,300 fire appliances and more than 600 stations, and responds to around 89,000 incidents annually. The organisation is also in the midst of an ongoing capital programme, including the delivery of 317 new trucks since 2017, a further 78 on order, annual replacement spending exceeding $20 million, and station upgrades and training initiatives.
Against that backdrop, FENZ has put forward a pay offer to NZPFU members of a 6.2% increase over three years. The agency says the proposal would lift average senior firefighter base remuneration from about $80,700–$87,400 to $85,800–$92,900 by the end of the term, excluding overtime and allowances, which currently add an average of $38,800 to annual earnings. FENZ has described the offer as “fair, sustainable, and reasonable, and in line with other settlements across the public service,” and points to a 37% increase in average senior firefighter pay over the past decade, more than 10 percentage points above the average increase for all workers. The 2022 settlement delivered cumulative wage rises of up to 24% over three years.
