Invercargill FENZ Union Members Not Giving Up

Career firefighter union members in the south are facing pay cuts while they carry on their two-weekly strikes from this Friday.

Invercargill NZPFU representative Aaron Ramsey said strike action is continuing on Mondays and Fridays for an hour, on the corner of Gala Street, where the protest moved several weeks ago.

“We’re still getting plenty of toots,” he said.

Having to contend with other protest groups on the Tay Street/Elles Road corner, the Invercargill NZPFU felt their message might be better heard somewhere quieter in the city.

FENZ chief executive Kerry Gregory advised the union on March 5 that management was working on a new offer.

“There has been a lot of movement, but nothing’s happening,” Aaron said.

The union said it expects that offer to be presented at the March 30 session. The new dates follow an ERA‑led facilitation process that began in December 2025 and was later adjourned without further meetings being scheduled, while union industrial action continued.

FENZ and the union have been in bargaining talks for a collective employment agreement for paid firefighters since July 16, 2024.

The union is hoping for a modest wage increase for its members, reflective of the current cost of living, and wants to stop ‘wage erosion.’

FENZ initially threatened to take a 10% wage reduction off all those involved in the strike action, but Aaron said the junior staff wouldn’t sustain that, so they backed out of it.

Describing it as “woeful behaviour,” he said some staff were still waiting to be back paid their settlements from 2021.

The facilitated bargaining planned for at the end of March will have potential implications for future fire service levy settings that fund the organisation’s operations. 

The NZPFU said on March 16 that it had agreed to two days of facilitation through the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) on March 30 and 31, on the basis that FENZ would table a revised proposal.