One-hour strikes by paid firefighters are set to continue as the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) maintains industrial action, despite the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ordering facilitated bargaining in its dispute with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ). The disruption is drawing attention from insurers, given FENZ’s reliance on insurance levies to fund operations.
The NZPFU reported strong participation in its Dec. 5 one-hour strike, with members stopping work across multiple roles and locations. The union said reports from local branches showed the action “was hugely supported by our members – off duty and on duty Comms Centre dispatchers – volunteer support officers (VSOs), trainers, and risk reduction members were out in force.” It also reported that families, supportive members of the public, retired and former NZPFU members, and current FENZ volunteers joined pickets and marches in city centres.
Further one-hour full strikes from 12 noon have been lined up for Dec. 12 and 19. The NZPFU’s national committee will decide week by week whether to proceed, but has told members and the public to assume the stoppages will go ahead unless advised otherwise. The union has indicated that FENZ’s stance in the upcoming facilitation will be central to any decision to lift the strikes.
In a message to members, NZPFU national secretary Wattie Watson said the union will attend facilitation “in good faith, as we have all bargaining,” but criticised FENZ’s public communications. The union alleges FENZ “continues to put false information in the public arena” and says it will “use this opportunity to expose any such dishonesty before the authority member.” Watson also referred to “distrust and the plummeting morale in the workplace,” and said a pay settlement alone will not repair internal relationships.
FENZ has publicly raised concerns about the continuation of strikes now that facilitation has been ordered. “We ask the NZPFU to call off all planned future strikes while both parties are preparing for facilitation. There is no good reason for continuing to put the community at risk while we go through that process,” said deputy national commander Megan Stiffler.
FENZ has advised that during each one-hour stoppage, it will continue to answer 111 calls and respond to fires, but with slower response times in affected areas. “Our dispatch system will direct volunteers from their own stations and in their own trucks to help as they regularly do when there are multiple emergencies at one time, but it will take them longer,” Stiffler said.
The agency is asking people, particularly in areas covered by paid firefighters, to take care with activities that could create fire risk. Businesses are being asked to review work practices that could result in fire and to ensure tenants understand their evacuation schemes and procedures. Stiffler said that in the event of a fire, people “should evacuate early and, once out, stay out, and call 111,” and should check both smoke alarms and escape plans.
As with earlier one-hour strikes, FENZ said it may not respond to some lower‑priority incidents in cities and towns, including private fire alarms where there is no sign of fire, small rubbish fires, traffic management support, and animal rescues, so that resources can be directed to higher‑risk emergencies.
Stiffler said the impact would be limited in scope. “I want to reassure people that this strike action will not affect most of the country. The vast majority of communities are served by our more than 11,800 volunteers in nearly 600 stations across New Zealand, who will respond as usual,” she said.
The ERA has set down facilitated bargaining between FENZ and the NZPFU for Dec. 9 and 10 in Wellington, after determining that the parties’ negotiations for a collective employment agreement had become protracted. Bargaining began on July 16, 2024, and has continued without a settlement.
FENZ has welcomed the ERA’s decision, describing independent facilitation as “the next logical step in coming to an agreement” and saying it will participate in good faith. The structure and scope of the facilitation process, including any further case management by the ERA, will influence the timetable for resolving the dispute.
The parties remain far apart on pay. FENZ said the NZPFU’s most recent settlement proposal was more than three times higher than its latest offer, and it hopes facilitation will “introduce some realism into discussions.”
For insurance professionals, the dispute is closely linked to FENZ’s funding structure. Around 95% of its operating budget is derived from levies on building, contents, and vehicle insurance policies, with the remainder coming from other government and non‑levy revenue.
FENZ operates with about 14,900 personnel, a fleet of roughly 1,300 fire appliances, and nearly 600 stations, and responds to around 89,000 incidents annually. Any sustained increase in operating costs could, over time, influence the level of fire service levies embedded in property and motor premiums.
FENZ’s current offer is a 6.2% pay increase over three years. The agency says this would lift average senior firefighter remuneration from around $80,700–$87,400 to $85,800–$92,900 by the end of the period, excluding overtime and allowances, which currently add an average of $38,800 to annual pay. It characterises this as “fair, sustainable, and reasonable, and in line with other settlements across the public service,” and notes that average senior firefighter pay has risen 37% over the past decade, more than 10 percentage points above the average increase for all workers. The previous 2022 settlement provided cumulative wage increases of up to 24% over three years.
FENZ also refers to capital and infrastructure spending, including 317 new trucks delivered since 2017, a further 78 on order, annual truck replacement spending of more than $20 million, station upgrades, and training.
