Tasmania's dismal record in fire protection is under further threat from budget cuts, according to a report to be presented to the Tasmania Fire Service.
On Tuesday the 31st of January the Branch Committee of Management released the UFU's report opposing the proposed closure of TasFire Training and the impact that the planned budget cuts will have on the ability of the TFS to provide a fire safe community.
UFUA Victorian and National secretary Peter Marshall says the MFB workers are among the lowest paid in their fields and are demanding a 4.5 per cent pay rise each year for the next three years.
A picture of the Sydney Opera House with a clouds of smoke backdrop has been used in an al-Qaeda English-language magazine to illustrate bushfires as a weapon of terrorism.
Hong Kong firefighter demands for a 48-hour week were first made in 1990 but have gone unanswered for 22 years. Their current standard hours are 54 per week.
In recent years there have been a number of international reports of fires and of unsafe installations in domestic solar PV installations that could have posed a fire risk.
Plans to slash £1.8 million from a UK regional fire authority budget could cost lives says the UK Firefighters Union. If implemented, the cuts would render the county’s fire service 'not fit for purpose'.
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has issued an improvement notice to the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) over inadequate personal flotation devices given to swift water rescue firefighters
At a yearly cost of about a cup of coffee for each ratepayer, the Tasmanian Fire Service would be able to stop potential station and training centre closures and fill vacancies.
The UFU says the lack of a purpose-built boat to tackle fires on Melbourne waterways is endangering lives. UFU Victorian and National Secretary Peter Marshall says the MFB Board should be sacked if it does not buy a firefighting boat.
United Firefighters Union National Secretary Peter Marshall said he hoped Tasmania would become the first Australian state to recognise, via legislation, the unique dangers firefighters face.
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.
The Union is calling on the WA government to support a private members bill that would make special provision in the Workers' Compensation Act for firefighters who contract cancer linked to their employment.
A new analysis of evidence from Victoria's Bushfire Royal Commission finds Australia's revered 'stay or go' bushfire policy failed catastrophically during the 2009 Black Saturday inferno.
The UFUA fires up a campaign against Tasmania Fire Service cuts, proposals to close a training centre and one station, as well as other cost-cutting measures that could impact on operational firefighter numbers.
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.
Firefighters want better safeguards when facing the dangers posed by the country's fastest-growing source of renewable energy. The Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authority Council is researching the potential dangers.
This means that the Fair Protection for Firefighters Act is now in force and Aviation and ACT firefighters are now able to access workers compensation entitlements through presumptive legislation for occupational cancer.
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.
Firefighters are threatening to close the CFA training facility at Fiskville, 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.
The Union wants the State Coroner to investigate the use of toxic chemicals at Fiskville. The Coroner has the power to investigate any fire or reportable death says UFUA National and Victorian Secretary, Peter Marshall.
The UFU says there is no way to deny firefighters had been exposed to cancer-causing chemicals at the Fiskville CFA training centre. Despite this, the Victorian premier reacts to revelations of a cancer cluster at Fiskville by ordering an inquiry.
In Victoria, firefighters, nurses, teachers, child protection and disability workers, paramedics, scientists and hundreds of other professions tackle government cuts.
UFUA National Bulletin: The Fair Protection For Firefighters Bill was passed in the Senate yesterday. Australia now has presumptive legislation for occupational cancer for firefighters.
Firefighters who develop cancer will be able to access workers compensation more easily, under new laws passed in the Senate. The Fair Protection for Firefighters bill gained rare tripartite support in the Senate today .... News Ltd story.
The UK firefighter's Union, the FBU, slams a £30 million boost to the London Met police budget when the government is demanding £65 million cuts to the city's Fire Service.
The federal Fair Protection for Firefighters legislation will now cover additional cancers, including multiple myeloma, primary site prostate, ureter, colorectal and oesophageal cancer.
Fire services chief Wayne Gregson says he was gobsmacked at inadequacies in the WA Fire and Emergency Services Authority and has flagged big changes, including more training for firefighters.
The UFUA's National Secretary Peter Marshall said the risk posed by solar panels had been a growing concern in recent years. Now, AFAC has launched an investigation into the alternative energy source's safety.
The Fair Protection for Firefighters Bill, which will ensure firefighters with occupational cancer get access to medical assistance and compensation, passes unopposed in federal parliament's House of Representatives.
The UFUA is sending a delegation of firefighters from around Australia to witness federal politicians vote on the Fair Protection for Firefighters Bill next week.
In response to the thousands of letters sent to politicians through the protectyourfirefighters.com website, opposition Coalition politicians have said they will not be opposing the Bill.
Australian Unions have launched a major campaign for secure jobs and a better future for Australian workers. NSW retained firefighter Marina Findeis helped the ACTU launch this critical mobilisation for job security and workplace rights.
The Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011. Read the Senate Inquiry report.
With only two weeks to go, every UFU Member is urged to go to the new UFUA Firefighter Protection Bill campaign website, register support for the bill and contact your local MP. Time is tight, so act now!
The Senate Standing Committee which has been investigating the Fair Protection for Firefighters Bill has released its report and recommends presumptive legislation be passed to compensate Firefighters with occupational cancer and to extend the coverage to 14 cancers.
In WA, an Assistant Police Commissioner has been appointed head of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority with a 12 month contract. Also, New York 9/11 remembered in this week's firefighter news links.
The UFUA has campaigned for many years to have cancers recognised as occupational diseases for firefighters. Legislation to achieve this goal is now in Federal Parliament.
Senators try hot fire training in Brisbane, then travel to Perth for the final hearing and learn about firies’ and their families' experiences with cancer.
The Senate Inquiry into the Fair Protection for Firefighters Bill continued this week with the ACT Government and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations making submissions.
As part of the investigation into the Senate 'Fair Protection for Firefighters' Bill, members of the Senate Standing Committee visit the Melbourne Airport Fire Station at Tullamarine.
The UFUA bid to have cancers recognised as occupational diseases for firefighters is a step closer with the Senate Standing Inquiry into the 'Fair Protection for Firefighters Bill' commencing its work.
A Senate Standing Committee will examine evidence and arguments to recognise leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, brain, bladder, kidney, testicular and breast cancers as occupation diseases for firefighters.
A bill to recognise firefighter cancers as occupation diseases was introduced in federal parliament yesterday. Today, the Senate voted to hold an inquiry into the legislation.
Following the Queensland floods, the UFU has established a dedicated welfare fund for our UFU Qld Members. Donations will go into the fund and be paid directly out to Members experiencing financial hardship.
The UFU says the lack of a purpose-built boat to tackle fires on Melbourne waterways is endangering lives. UFU Victorian and National Secretary Peter Marshall says the MFB Board should be sacked if it does not buy a firefighting boat.