The New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) is intensifying its campaign on multiple fronts, issuing new guidance to members on leave remediation payments, urging participation in a mental health survey, and encouraging parliamentary and public scrutiny of Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ). These steps sit alongside ongoing industrial action and a call for a wider independent inquiry into FENZ, developments that are being monitored by insurers given the organisation’s reliance on statutory levies for most of its funding.
A central focus of the NZPFU’s latest communication is FENZ’s leave remediation programme, following a 2023 audit that identified errors in the calculation of leave payments. The union says firefighters are scheduled to receive remediation in the May 27 pay run, with individual statements on underpayments now expected by April 30 after what FENZ has described as “technical issues” delaying earlier notification. With those statements, FENZ is sending a form seeking consent to offset any alleged historical overpayments against the remediation owed, resulting in a net payment where staff agree. The NZPFU is advising members not to sign that consent at this stage. “Members are advised it is not in your interests to sign a form consenting FENZ to deduct any monies they say you owe from the remediation payment,” the union said.
The union added that “FENZ is yet to demonstrate to the NZPFU that they have a right to seek repayment of any claimed overpayments,” citing protections in the Wages Protection Act and noting that calculations from 2024 onwards have not yet been completed. The union is urging members to request full, itemised calculations rather than relying solely on totals, given the scale and complexity of the recalculation exercise. The remediation process highlights how corrections in large, levy‑funded payroll systems can generate unplanned financial adjustments and employment law risk, with potential implications for operating costs that are ultimately recovered through statutory charges on insured assets.
The NZPFU is also pressing members to complete the Whanaungatanga Survey, an independently run study into mental health and wellbeing among FENZ personnel conducted by the University of Canterbury. The union describes the survey as providing “critical and internationally accepted data in how you are affected by your role in FENZ and by the organisation of FENZ.” The research covers two cohorts. One is the initial group of firefighters who first participated in 2023, enabling longitudinal analysis of changes over time. The second extends the survey to all FENZ employees this year to provide a broader picture of workplace conditions. According to the union, around 70% of the 2023 cohort took part again in 2024, and the resulting analysis “has been internationally accepted as ground-breaking research.” The survey is designed to identify operational and organisational factors associated with mental ill‑health and to assess how organisational change initiatives affect wellbeing. The NZPFU is asking that the survey be raised at the beginning of shifts and that staff be given time to complete it while at work.
On capital assets and response capability, the union is reminding its local branches that submissions to the Governance and Administration Select Committee’s inquiry into FENZ’s appliance fleet must be lodged by April 30. It is encouraging members and volunteers to provide information on the condition of appliances at their stations, recorded failures at incidents, and their assessment of changes required. The NZPFU links its concerns about fleet condition to a longer period of constrained replacement and maintenance, arguing that breakdowns and a limited pool of suitable relief appliances can affect response when units cannot attend or complete incidents.
In parallel, the union is promoting an online petition calling for a “full independent inquiry into FENZ.” Supporting material contrasts reported growth in FENZ funding since its establishment in 2017, including $838 million in 2025, with relatively static firefighter numbers and increased non‑operational staffing. It also cites spending on projects such as payroll and uniform initiatives, restructures, and decisions on station closures and new builds, along with staffing pressures at the three 111 emergency communications centres. “We hope that the information provided to the Select Committee on fleet will result in a recommendation for a full and independent inquiry into FENZ’s management of its funding and whether it is meeting its obligations and requirements under the Fire and Emergency Act 2017,” NZPFU national secretary Wattie Watson said.
The NZPFU says members are now in their sixth month of industrial action, including notified one‑hour stoppages, as part of an unresolved collective bargaining process. The FENZ-NZPFU collective agreement for 2021-24 expired on June 30, 2024, after several rounds of facilitation through the Employment Relations Authority (ERA). The union continues to highlight pay scales for recruits, firefighters, and senior officers, comparing these with remuneration for senior leadership, board members, and non‑operational roles such as analysts and project managers. It argues that operational firefighter numbers have changed little while non‑operational roles and overall funding have increased since FENZ was formed. The outcome of bargaining is material because FENZ’s operating budget is largely funded through statutory levies on home, contents, and motor insurance policies. Any shift in wage settlements, staffing mix, or investment priorities has potential to influence levy settings and, in turn, premium levels and product design in the New Zealand market.
In a recent statement, FENZ has pushed back on the case for an additional independent inquiry and has rejected elements of the union’s narrative. Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler said FENZ operates under multiple oversight arrangements, including audits by Audit New Zealand, direct reporting to the Minister of Internal Affairs, appearances before select committees, and monitoring by the Department of Internal Affairs, as well as engagement with industry and community groups. She said FENZ’s strategic plan is publicly available and addresses several of the matters raised by the NZPFU. “[FENZ] is focused on coming to a sustainable agreement with the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) for a new collective agreement. It’s disappointing its officials are focused on these distractions, mischaracterisations, and scaremongering,” Stiffler said.
On pay, FENZ has previously said its most recent proposal would have delivered cumulative increases of 6.2% by November 2027 at a projected cost of $32.7 million through to July 2028. “We believe this represented a fair and sustainable offer and was fair when compared to other settlements that have been ratified across the public service,” Stiffler said, adding that the NZPFU “needs to consider their position in light of other settlements around the public sector and reflect a dose of reality in their pay claims.”
FENZ estimates the union’s current proposal at about $120 million over the same period, equivalent to roughly 10% of its annual wage and salary bill and about 5% of total operating expenditure. Watson has said the union will not return to facilitation unless FENZ tables a revised offer, noting that the NZPFU lodged its last comprehensive proposal on Jan. 26, 2026, and that FENZ has not presented a new package since 2025.
FENZ reports a mixed workforce of about 14,900 paid and volunteer personnel, operating around 1,300 appliances from close to 600 stations, and responding to roughly 89,000 incidents a year. With about 95% of its operating income derived from levies on insurance policies, insurance professionals are monitoring the fleet inquiry, petition campaign, and bargaining process for potential implications for future levy trajectories and service expectations in the New Zealand market.
