Following on from the successful enactment of the presumptive legislation for firefighters who are diagnosed with occupational cancer in the ACT and Aviation branches, and in accordance with the National Executive presumptive legislation programme, the United Firefighters Union of Australia is pleased to announce the following developments. ufua_bulletin_008_.
Australia Qld: Cairns firefighters demand better rescue gear from Queensland Government. Cairns firefighters say their lives are endangered during swift water rescues by low grade personal flotation devices and they are battling the Queensland Government for safer emergency response gear. Last month, the United Firefighters’Union lodged a complaint against the employer. Vic: Nathalia residents told to go Firefighters …
Read more “This week’s news: Cairns firies demand better rescue gear”
Click to read (or right-click/Cmd-click to save to your computer: PDF download).
UFUA shift calendar/organiser (App) available NOW from the itunes store. Click here to find out more (or right-click/Cmd-click to save to your computer: PDF download).
Australia WA: The UFUA 2012 WA Presumptive Legislation Campaign WA firefighters call for cancer compensation. The United Firefighters Union of Australia is calling on the WA government to support a private members bill which would make a special provision in the Workers’ Compensation Act for firefighters who contract cancer linked to their employment. The private members …
Australia WA: Bushfire report slams prescribed burns management. An inquiry into the Margaret River bushfire has recommended an urgent review of the Department. The report was scathing of the DEC’s role in the fiasco – from its handling of the prescribed burn that started the bushfire, to its delayed and confused emergency response. WA bushfire and …
Read more “This week’s news: WA Bushire report slams prescribed burns management”
Australia Vic: Fatal flaws in ‘stay or go’ strategy . Australia’s revered ‘stay or go’ bushfire policy failed catastophically during Victoria’s 2009 Black Saturday inferno, reflecting the state’s inability to manage such extreme events, according to a new analysis of evidence from the royal commission into the tragedy. Auswide: Australian firefighters’ health study This Monash University study …
Important notice to all members, rule amendments as adopted by NCOM. Please see attached 12_02_14_rule_change_notify.
Tasmania Fire Crisis: the UFUA fires up a campaign against TFS cuts Tasmania firefighters are fighting budget cuts and proposals to close a training centre, one station and other cost-cutting measures that could impact on operational firefighter numbers. The UFUA has launched a campaign, including a website to enable Tasmanians to send a pre-prepared letter …
Australia ACT/NSW: Firies put heat on solar panels. Firefighters want better safeguards when facing the dangers posed by the country’s fastest-growing source of renewable energy. Fire and Rescue NSW wants solar panels equipped with a power shut-off capability at the meter box to lessen the risk of live power running through the roof. The Australasian Fire …
Read more “This week’s news: firies put heat on solar panels”
Australia Tas: Report warns of potential fire crisis Tasmania’s dismal record in fire protection is under further threat from budget cuts, according to a report presented to the Tasmania Fire Service. The State Government intends cutting $1 million a year from its funding of the Tasmania Fire Service. It also plans to reduce the legislated …
Support our comrades in the U.S.A through the 9-11 Patch Project: http://9-11patchproject.org/
The Fair Protection for Firefighters Legislation receives Royal Assent: an historic day for all Firefighters. Click to read (or right-click/Cmd-click to save to your computer: PDF download).
Australia Firefighter Protection Bill receives Royal Assent: read more in the 2012_ufua_national_bulletin_no.1. The United Firefighters Union of Australia National Office, on behalf of the National Executive and the National Committee of Management, is proud to announce that the Governor General has granted Royal Assent to the “Fair Protection for Firefighters” legislation. This means that the …
Read more “Australian Firefighter Protection Bill Receives Royal Assent”
Australia Vic: Close call west of Geelong. A volunteer fire fighter has told how he and his crew were forced to flee when their tanker went up in flames. Government budget cuts and penny pinching stand accused. “The truck is replaceable; the crew isn’t…” View the Ch.10 news report. Vic: Fire on the bay, the …
Australia Vic – Fiskville exposure roundup: Ryan may consider independent inquiry into Fiskville. Firefighters are threatening to close a Country Fire Authority (CFA) training facility west of Melbourne unless there is an independent inquiry into a suspected cancer cluster there.The United Firefighters Union has asked the coroner to conduct an investigation. Union urges firefighters to …
Click here (or right-click/Cmd-click to save to your computer: PDF download).
Download the December 2011 newsletter by clicking here (or right-click/Cmd-click to save to your computer: PDF download). Annual BCOM Conference Presumptive Legislation CFBT Aerial Vehicles IR Updates Responding in an Emergency Office Christmas Closure
CFA rapped over Fiskville inquiry THE CFA should be ashamed for refusing to investigate a link between the toxic chemicals used at its Fiskville training college and a suspected cancer cluster, alleged victims say. The investigation can look at “historical facts”, documents, current risks and origin of the chemicals, but not whether they are linked …
Fiskville fears over cancer cluster Links to media stories about firefighter and residents’ exposure to carcinogenic chemicals used in training exercises at the CFA training centre in Fiskville, west of Bacchus Marsh in Victoria. Baillieu to call inquiry Premier Baillieu will order a full investigation of a suspected cancer cluster at Fiskville. And the United …
Australia Vic: There for you Victoria’s Public Sector Unions launch the There For You campaign. Firefighters, nurses, teachers, child protection and disability workers, paramedics, scientists and hundreds of other professions tackle government cuts. Watch the campaign promo and the ABC News report. WA: Crackdown on bushfire arsonists A recent report by the Australian Institute of …
Easier compensation for firefighters with cancer Firefighters who develop cancer will be able to access workers compensation more easily, under new laws passed in the Senate. Under existing laws firefighters have to prove they were exposed to a particular chemical on the job and that it caused their cancer. A bill initiated by Australian Greens …
Members are advised that the Fair Protection for Firefighters Bill was unanimously passed in the Senate and will now become law. This is a watershed moment for the UFUA and all Australian firefighters. For the first time in Australian history, specific cancers have been recognised as occupational cancers for firefighters through presumptive legislation. More than …
Posted here for all members information are the financial statements of the Branch for the year ended 30 June 2011. These documents will be considered for ratification at the BCOM conference to be held from the 6th to the 8th of December 2011. Download here or visit the financials page.
UK: Union slams moves for £30 million giveaway to the Met police. The Government is demanding £65 million of austerity budget cuts in the London Fire Service while boosting the police budget by tens of millions. Australia NSW: ‘Firefighter’s worst nightmare’ Three dead after fire tears through nursing home: firefighters forced to search the rooms …
Australia Qld: Firefighters take up mate’s battle with QFRS heirachy. A Queensland firefighter’s case before the state’s Industrial relations Commission is highlighting the issue of workers with epilepsy. WA: A dire bushfire season ahead: how will it be tackled? The United Firefighters Union WA Secretary Graeme Geer says the Union has called for …
Memo on union subscriptions as at November 2011: click to read (or right-click/Cmd-click to save to your computer: PDF download). Anyone that has a conscientious objection to paying trade union contributions, should also have a conscientious objection to taking the benefits.
Australia WA: Training shocks chief . Fire services chief Wayne Gregson says he was “gobsmacked” at some of the inadequacies within the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and has flagged big changes in the way bushfires are fought in WA, including more training for firefighters. New head says criticism of FESA warranted. Qld: Firefighter dispute …
Australia Firefighter Protection Bill passes the Reps The Melbourne Age reported that yesterday (Thursday), more than 60 firefighters gave a standing ovation in Parliament after a Greens bill giving firefighters easier access to workers’ compensation cleared a major hurdle. The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011, was sent from the …
Australia: Firefighter solar panel concerns to be investigated. The UFUA’s National Secretary, Peter Marshall said the risk posed by solar panels had been a growing concern in recent years. Now, the Australian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC) has launched an investigation into the alternative energy source’s safety after Firefighter claims that homes fitted …