VOLUNTEER FIREMEN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19555, 10 February 1938, Page 7

VOLUNTEER FIREMEN

UNION ORGANISATION EFFECT ON BRIGADES DISCUSSON AT CONGRESS When the annual congress of the New Zealand United Fire Brigades meets at New Plymouth on Monday, February 21, a leading topic of discussion will be the effort now being made to bring volunteer fire brigades* men under an award. Already there have been indications given that volunteer fire-fighters are averse to the principle Of compulsory unionism in their brigades, and it is likely that the congress will furnish a clear statement of opinion on the part of those who for the past 60 years have guided the movement for better brigades in large towns and small. In conversation with a member of the Gisborne Fire Brigade to-day, a pressman learned that from time to time for some months feelers had been put out by the organisers of a union devoted primarily to the interests of permanent fire-fighters, the object being to open up favourable opportunities for absorbing the personnel of the volunteer brigades into the union. This organisation is believed to have the aim of superseding the United Fire Brigades' Congress, which in the past has handled the industrial side of fire-fighting and the emoluments of the volunteer brigade members. . "Service for the Sake of Service" The sentiment expressed by volunteer brigadesmen in Hastings on Monday, that the extension of industrial union control to fire-fighting would kill the volunteer system, finds some echoes in this district, where the brigade has been built up on a basis of service for the sake of service, rather than as a means of increasing the earnings of brigade members. I There have been various changes in the terms of engagement for volunteers since the inception of the congress, but these have been negotiated in each instance, and there has been no occasion on which the welfare of the community in the matter of firetighting has taken anything but first place.

All the members of the Gisborne brigade are enthusiastic in their work, it is said, and though some may consider unionism as good a principle for tire-fighting as for ordinary industrial undertakings, others would regret deeply any departure from the traditional system of i voluntary service, at least until GhMnnc reaches a population figure ri™essitating the employment of full-time brigadesmen. "I know perfectly well that if our brigade is placed under an award, it will be the end of fire-brigade work for most of us," added the Herald's informant. "We will hear a good deal on the subject, I should say, when the congress meets in New Plymouth."