Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) are scheduled to return to facilitated bargaining at the end of March, with potential implications for future fire service levy settings that fund the organisation’s operations. The NZPFU said on March 16 that it had agreed to two days of facilitation through the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) on March 30 and 31, on the basis that FENZ would table a revised proposal.
The union said: “The NZPFU accepted two days of facilitated bargaining on the basis that FENZ brings an enhanced offer to the table. We were contacted by the Employment Relations Authority, offering the 30th and 31st March for facilitated bargaining. The NZPFU has consistently been calling for bargaining to recommence as we cannot resolve this dispute unless we are around the table genuinely negotiating.” According to the NZPFU, FENZ chief executive Kerry Gregory advised the union on March 5 that management was “working up a new offer.” The union said it expects that offer to be presented at the March 30 session. The new dates follow an ERA‑led facilitation process that began in December 2025 and was later adjourned without further meetings being scheduled, while union industrial action continued.
The current dispute arises from the expiry of the 2021-24 collective agreement on June 30, 2024, and follows previous bargaining activity dating back to 2019. The NZPFU has said the issues now in dispute cover remuneration, staffing, work health and safety, and aspects of organisational structure and resourcing. Industrial action by the union has been under way since August 2025. During the period of facilitation, the parties met on seven occasions, most recently on Feb. 13, 2026, before talks were paused.
In parallel, the NZPFU and the Public Service Association (PSA) are challenging a FENZ restructuring proposal at the ERA that could disestablish about 140 roles and affect around 700 positions, largely in non‑operational functions. As at mid‑March 2026, no successor collective agreement applies to the post‑June 2024 period, facilitation has been on hold pending the late‑March dates, and the restructure challenge remains before the ERA.
In February, following member meetings across its 19 locals, the NZPFU proposed altering the way the parties engage. National secretary Wattie Watson wrote to FENZ suggesting renewed involvement of a third party who assisted in resolving the 2022 bargaining dispute. The union described that person as “highly respected and experienced” and “pivotal” to the 2022 settlement. Under the proposal, the third party would work with both sides on a joint proposal focused on what the union sees as the main barriers to agreement, and would assist with any joint presentations required under current government “guidelines.” The NZPFU said that, because of the individual’s earlier role, only a limited update on the current position would be required.
According to the union, FENZ rejected the suggestion, stating that the person would not be engaged “given his past history with the parties.” The NZPFU has questioned that position and pointed to the same history and familiarity with the issues as reasons for its proposal. The union has also contrasted FENZ’s current stance with comments made at the time of the 2022 settlement. Then, Gregory said he was “excited by the settlement” and that it addressed “significant change in the working environment for firefighters… and addresses key issues,” including safe staffing and the condition of the fire appliance fleet. The NZPFU contends that what it refers to as an earlier “agreement in principle” for more than 200 additional firefighters and 111 emergency call centre dispatchers has not been implemented, and says its concerns about the fleet continue.
The parties also hold different views on how talks should restart and who should put forward the next proposal. In a March 5 email, Gregory told the union that FENZ’s bargaining team had reviewed its position and was preparing a revised offer. “We are planning for the offer to be tabled at facilitation,” he wrote, adding that “on condition of returning to facilitation with a new offer we ask that the NZPFU withdraw all industrial action, and commit to pausing future action while the facilitation process is ongoing.”
The NZPFU says it replied that it was prepared to meet FENZ in direct bargaining, rather than in facilitation, for any revised position to be presented. The union now says FENZ has taken the view that the NZPFU should table a revised offer first, with any future facilitation to follow. According to the union, in a recent online meeting it asked Gregory and deputy national commander Megan Stiffler to agree to dates for direct bargaining, without the proposed third party and outside the facilitation process, so that FENZ could present any new proposal. The NZPFU says no firm dates were agreed and that the meeting ended when Gregory left for a pre‑arranged meeting with “The Minister.”
The union maintains that it remains open to negotiations and has set out elements it sees as necessary for a settlement. These include staffing across work groups, involvement in planning and procurement for appliances, provisions on training, explicit recognition of occupational cancer and access to mental health programmes in the agreement, coverage of some members not currently included, and what it terms “fair and reasonable wages,” noting that members “have not had a pay increase since July 2023.”
Industrial action is continuing alongside the move back to facilitation. On March 16, the NZPFU confirmed a series of national one‑hour strikes at 12pm on the following dates:
Earlier that day, the union had notified a one‑hour strike from noon on April 1. It also said there would be no strike on Friday, April 3, stating that “that is Good Friday and all those on leave should be able to enjoy precious time with whanau and friends.” These stoppages form part of a wider programme of industrial measures. The NZPFU has issued a further notice of action starting March 23, introducing bans on administrative and other non‑emergency duties. Those bans are intended to operate alongside existing national one‑hour stoppages at midday every Monday and Friday at career‑staffed stations, which have been in place since 2025.
According to the union, more than 93% of members who attended 25 meetings in February voted to support both the additional bans and the continuation of rolling one‑hour strikes. In correspondence with FENZ, Watson said members would “continue to fight for a fair and reasonable collective agreement that includes the necessary safe systems of work.” The NZPFU has withdrawn some earlier forms of action that did not affect emergency response, citing the effect of ongoing pay deductions on lower‑paid members, but has confirmed that one‑hour full stoppages will continue. FENZ has indicated it may deduct wages for the periods when staff participate in stoppages.
On remuneration, FENZ has said it sought ERA facilitation because there was “a significant gap between what we were offering and the NZPFU’s expectations.” Before facilitation began, FENZ outlined a three‑year remuneration proposal that it said would deliver an average 6.2% increase and align with other recent public sector settlements. The agency has said this was around three times lower than the NZPFU’s proposed settlement.
Under that proposal, FENZ indicated that average senior firefighter base salaries would move from about $81,000-$87,000 to approximately $86,000-$93,000 over the term, excluding overtime and allowances. It has also said that overtime and allowances add close to $39,000 on average to annual pay, and that average senior firefighter remuneration has increased by about 37% over the past decade. FENZ has stated that it believes industrial action should be suspended while facilitation is under way. The bargaining is occurring within a funding model in which around 95% of FENZ’s operating revenue is collected through levies on home, contents, and motor insurance policies, with the remainder from other government and non‑levy sources. FENZ has a workforce of about 14,900 personnel, a fleet of roughly 1,300 appliances, and close to 600 stations, and responds to around 89,000 incidents each year.
