AUXILIARY UPDATE : 23 october 2024

MTEL FAILURE – DON’T ASK DON’T MTEL?

Your union has received multiple notifications of the MTEL notification system failing to alert you and your colleagues. 

The MTEL failures are an embarrassment for QFD, and it appears no one is managing the MTEL problems despite multiple reports being provided. It seems your messages about MTEL failures are unable to be delivered ‘due to protocol error’!

On reporting, many members have expressed lack of awareness of how to provide a report. This is typical of QFD and their state communications management, and ironic that the group called communications are repeatedly underperforming when it comes to communicating with their own employees.

There is a reporting system to advise QFD of MTEL failures, but the link to it cannot be provided in a UFUQ UPDATE.  Therefore, we suggest any concerned member needs to email their local manager and ask for a copy of the link from the internal system. Alternatively keep submitting SHE Reports or HR reports or advising management in any way you can of their failure.

Your union has asked repeatedly for updates on what’s going on with MTEL, but no one seems to know what the problems or the answers are, so keep the reports coming in, perhaps eventually state communications management will manage the situation.

AUXILIARY FTE UP, THEN DOWN, THEN UP AGAIN?

Your UFUQ representatives and others recently had to take on QFD management about culling auxiliary FTE at stations across the state. Your union is aware the numbers were reduced to provide FTE for more QFRS senior officers, but then the numbers were put back again after your union and your representatives started asking questions.

The UFUQ State Office is continuing to discuss what happened with AFF FTE. If and when we get to the bottom of who made the disastrous mistake to cull numbers across the board and then reverse that decision, we will provide an update. But rest assured, auxiliary numbers at your station aren’t reducing.

AWARD VARIATION

As previously advised, now that the State Wage Case Decision has been published (giving you a 3.75% wage rise) the QIRC can turn its mind to the application to vary the Auxiliary Firefighters’ Award – State 2016.

The QIRC has set a date for a conference to have everyone come together to try to determine what might be the way forward.  That conference is scheduled for 1 November 2024.  We will provide another update after that conference.

AFF WAGE RISE – BACKPAY / START DATE

Just a quick note to let you know the QIRC has published an updated version of your award with all the wages and allowances updated, you can find that here.

Your union is in discussions with QFD and QSS to see how long it is going to take them to look at that link and type in the new numbers (and calculate all backpay to 1 September 2024). Once they have worked out how and when to pay you, we will provide you with an update.

John Oliver - General Secretary