CFA pay dispute: Firefighters receive bonus, allowances boost to compensate for deal delay
Updated
Victoria's career CFA firefighters will receive a $3,000 bonus and a boost to their allowances as a stopgap measure while a bitter pay dispute drags into a fourth year.
The Fair Work Commission has approved a 19 per cent increase on all existing allowances and the bonus to compensate for the long delay in the latest enterprise bargaining negotiations.
The changes have been made to the current agreement, which was made in 2010.
Emergency Services Minister James Merlino said a new pay agreement had been ready for six months, but the Federal Government had blocked it by amending the Fair Work Act.
"So all that's occurred is the Fair Work Commission have agreed to the parties' request to pass on these allowances to our firefighters," he said.
"The only reason the agreement hasn't been finalised, certified and passed on in full is because of the political interference of the Turnbull Government."
A CFA spokesperson agreed the changes introduced by the Federal Government was delaying the deal.
"To ensure our operational staff are not disadvantaged while this matter is resolved, the Fair Work Commission on Friday gave effect to an order that addresses allowances," they said.
"The payment of these allowances is simply honouring the terms of the proposed agreement.
"We are continuing to work to progress the proposed agreement through the Fair Work Commission."
Deal 'negotiated in good faith': Merlino
The long, bitter and sometimes hostile negotiations caused friction between some volunteers, who were concerned it handed too much power to the union.
Volunteers rallied against the proposals, and the disagreement played out in public, with emergency services leaders concerned it could cause deep divisions within the CFA.
The CFA board was sacked for refusing to sign off on the proposal, and then chief executive officer Lucinda Nolan quit.
During earlier negotiations, Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett refused to back the deal put forward by Cabinet, and resigned,
The Federal Government rushed through changes to the Fair Work Act to "protect Australia's emergency services from a hostile union takeover", but the Andrews Government said the legislation was "full of holes" and only complicated matters.
Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) challenged the deal in court to try and block the union from voting on it, but later dropped the case.
Mr Merlino said Government always negotiated in good faith.
"You look at Victoria Police's agreement, paramedics, all our emergency services agreements have allowances," he said.
"These firefighters should not be disadvantaged because their agreement is delayed."
Topics: bushfire, states-and-territories, federal-government, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, vic
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