The sometimes difficult pairing of family life and a career in the fire service
Thursday, 18 August 2022
Nights are the worst for Hayley Gilmour.
Her firefighter husband Isaac sometimes works more than 70 hours a week because, she says, no one else is available to cover the shifts.
The 70-hour weeks mean he’s often working overnight, leaving Gilmour and the kids at home by themselves.
She says the conditions firefighters are striking over on Friday is one side of the issue. The families left at home picking up the pieces is another.
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“I know he's torn between like working overtime and the family. He feels stuck because he feels like he's letting the station down or letting us down,” the mother-of-three says.
The strain is exacerbated by the fact the couple have no family support in Taranaki, having moved to the region from the Bay of Plenty for the west coast surf.
“It's lonely and no one understands what it's like, you kind of become a bit of a solo mum.”
The firefighters’ union say their members feel overworked, underpaid, and under resourced to protect the community, but Isaac, who has been a firefighter for eight years, stays in the job because he wants to help people.
Earlier this month the firefighters’ union announced plans to strike for one hour (11am to noon) on Friday, August 19 and Friday, August 26.
The strike notice was issued by New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) after negotiations with Fire and Emergency New Zealand reached an impasse on June 30.
The impasse occurred after 13 months and 144 hours of negotiation and two rounds of mediation.
When the strike action was announced earlier this month FENZ Deputy National Commander Brendan Nally described it as disappointing.
He said FENZ had made a substantial new pay offer which would see base salaries for all firefighters increase by between 8% and 19% over the next two years.
'The NZPFU is still seeking total increases across both pay and allowances of more than 40% for most firefighters,” he said.
“They have also indicated they wish to return to mediation but are yet to provide a counter position.
Although they miss having their dad around and have had many Christmas’ without him, Isaac is a hero to sons Thatcher, 4, Sawyer, 2, and six-month-old Rhye.
Thatcher and Sawyer have many a toy fire truck and often run around the family’s Oakura property causing mischief with their firefighter helmets on.
While at home looking after her three boys under five, Gilmour says she is also filled with worry about her husband getting hurt.
The stuff they see is gnarly, she says, not only fires but suspected suicides, cardiac arrests, and car crashes.
“You've just got to take the positives, and we're so proud of him, they do an amazing job.”
But the lifestyle has definitely taken its toll on the family.
Gilmour recently returned to work as a relief teacher one day a week and some days Isaac will come off a night shift and go straight into looking after the kids, so Gilmour can go to work.
“So we're just passing ships.”
When baby Rhye was born she says Isaac didn't get the two weeks paternity leave new dads are entitled to as there was no one to cover him at the station.
Her husband only got the day after the birth off because their son had to be rushed back to hospital. If that had not happened he would have been back at work less than 24 hours after their son was born, she says.
Gilmour says she and Isaac never expected his job to be so all encompassing and it hasn't been easy on their relationship.
“I've definitely had times when I've just been a mess.
“It's exhausting.”