Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) have been ordered into facilitated bargaining by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), in an ongoing pay dispute with implications for insurance-funded levies and emergency service resourcing.
On Dec. 4, the ERA determined that bargaining between FENZ and the NZPFU had become protracted and directed both sides into facilitated bargaining. The parties have been negotiating a collective employment agreement for more than 16 months, with discussions beginning in mid-July 2024 and no settlement reached. A different ERA member is expected to convene a case management conference to decide the structure, scope, and timing of the facilitation. Details of the process, including when formal sessions will begin, have yet to be confirmed.
FENZ said it supported the ERA’s decision and described facilitation as its preferred route to making progress on a collective deal. “Attending independent facilitation with the authority is the next logical step in coming to an agreement, and we will participate in good faith with the NZPFU,” said deputy national commander Megan Stiffler.
The NZPFU has argued the facilitation application has slowed bargaining momentum. According to the union, the last bargaining meeting took place on Nov. 18, and FENZ has since declined to meet or lock in future dates while waiting for ERA’s direction. “We could have been bargaining last week, this week, next week – but FENZ chose not to,” NZPFU national secretary Wattie Watson told members.
The union said it is taking legal advice on ERA’s determination but is continuing with planned industrial action. NZPFU members are scheduled to strike for one hour from 12 noon on Dec. 5, with further strikes notified for Dec. 12 and 19. The NZPFU has said the strikes could be avoided if FENZ were to resume talks and “made progress in trying to resolve the issues.”
FENZ, in contrast, is asking the union to suspend industrial action during the facilitation lead-in period. “We ask the NZPFU to call off its strike and all planned future strikes while both parties are preparing for facilitation which represents the best opportunity to settle bargaining. There is no good reason for continuing to put the community at risk while we go through that process,” Stiffler said.
While both parties have agreed to enter facilitation, there remains a wide difference between their positions, with FENZ stating that the NZPFU’s latest settlement proposal is more than three times the cost of its own offer.
FENZ has tabled a three-year package that it says delivers an average 6.2% increase in total remuneration over the term. Under that proposal, average senior firefighter base pay would rise from about $81,000–$87,000 to around $86,000–$93,000 at the end of the agreement period. These figures exclude overtime and allowances, which currently add an average of almost $39,000 per year, according to the organisation. FENZ also points to longer-term pay movements, stating that average senior firefighter earnings have increased by 37% over the past decade, which it says is more than 10 percentage points above overall wage growth across the wider labour market.
The NZPFU maintains that its claims reflect issues raised by members and has signalled that the current FENZ offer does not meet its expectations on pay and conditions.
For insurance sector stakeholders, the dispute is closely linked to FENZ’s funding base. Around 95% of the organisation’s operating budget is sourced from levies on building, contents, and vehicle insurance policies, with the remainder coming from other government and non-levy sources.
In the 2024-25 financial year, FENZ received $796.7 million in insurance levy income and $41.3 million from other revenue streams. The levy-funded model means that any material increase in firefighter remuneration could lead to higher premiums for property and motor policyholders, depending on the timing and structure of any future levy adjustments. Stiffler commented: “We’re conscious that approximately 95% of Fire and Emergency’s operations are funded by a levy on New Zealanders’ building, contents, and vehicle insurance, and the cost-of-living pressures that would arise from pushing those costs up too much.”
FENZ currently operates with around 14,900 personnel, a fleet of approximately 1,300 fire appliances, and more than 600 stations across the country, responding to about 89,000 incidents per year. These operational settings, alongside the levy-based funding framework, are cited by FENZ as reasons why any collective settlement must be managed within existing fiscal constraints.
