Tasmanian firefighters have begun eight days of industrial action, escalating an 18-month standoff with the state government.
The action started today and will include unannounced building evacuations, hydrant testing, restrictions on traffic flow around alarm call-outs and internal bans on on-call work.
The United Firefighters Union (UFU) is seeking a wage rise of about $16,000 to bring base pay into line with other state service employees, along with minimum safe staffing levels.
Union secretary Leigh Hills said members had voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of the action, which was designed to cause disruption without putting the community at risk.
He said firefighters were working in unsafe conditions and the lack of safeguards was making it harder to retain staff.
Union representative Darren Gye said members understood what was at stake and accused the government of dragging out negotiations.
“Morale at the moment for firefighters in terms of our action is very high,” he said.
Liberal minister Roger Jaensch said negotiations would continue.
“We, as with any of these wage arrangements and negotiations, will continue to negotiate in good faith and let the process do its job,” he said.
The union said a breakdown in talks had left it with no other option, but it would prefer not to be taking industrial action.
