Insurance Interests In Fire Service “Detrimental”

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31763, 21 August 1968, Page 26

Insurance Interests In Fire Service “Detrimental”

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, August 20.

A grip by insurance interests on the F ire Service was detrimental to the service and its men and should be broken, the Government appointee on the Wellington Fire Board, Mr N. Beavan, said today.

“The time has come, in view of the rising profits made by the underwriters, for the Government to take control of the financial side of the Fire Service from the hands of the financially contributing bodies,” he said.

Mr Bevan said that insurance interests, represented by three seats on the sevenstrong Wellington Fire Board, exercised too much financial influence on the board. The same pattern prevailed in other boards. This was reflected in the minimal rewards and conditions for firemen and in consistent industrial disagreement, he said. Insurance interests met 50 per cent of the Fire Service’s costs and, as a result,

were cost-conscious to the detriment of the service.

“It is obvious that the majority of our men are more dedicated to the service than to the amount of money they receive, but the latter is now a serious matter when shortstaffing and recruiting problems of the Wellington Fire Brigade are considered," he said.

The Fire Service in general for far too long had been regarded as a “Cinderella service” and it was time that the conditions of employment were improved to meet those offered by private enterprise, he said.

“We in Wellington are 19 men short through not being able to offer sufficiently attractive pay and service conditions. In the last year we have lost 11 fully-trained men to the civil aviation fire section because their hours of work are shorter and the pay better. “They offer a 40-hour week, plus better penal rates

for week-ends and extra shift allowances. Our staff have to remain on duty for 84 hours a week on a day-on day-off basis, with frugal allowances and overtime margins. “One senior fireman who left us last year earned in seven months with civil aviation what he did in a year in the Wellington brigade,” Mr Bevan said. “Under the latest award our third and fourth officers —men responsible for handling the staff, and who hold key positions—are entitled to the princely basic sum of $52.95 per week. In my view

this is ridiculously inadequate. They are both highly qualified men with years of experience, study and examinations behind them.

“Recently the Court of Arbitration has seen fit to direct the employers to negotiate with the unions within six months with a view to drawing up a common agreement for shorter hours of duty. However, I feel this merely touches on the fringe of a serious matter which affects every family and business person in New Zealand,” Mr Bevan said.

“The time is ripe for the Government to institute an independent inquiry into New Zealand’s Fire Service,” he said.