Full-time firefighter couldn't afford meat or electricity for a hot shower

Wednesday, 9 November 2022

A firefighter and solo mother has had to resort to drastic means to keep food on the table and hot water in the showers.

Career firefighter Leanne Allen relies on overtime and is “desperately” calling for increased pay in order to “stay afloat”.

Over the past year, Allen, 46, has at times had to give up meat because it is too expensive, cook dinner at 4pm before the cost of power increases in the evening, and set up an outdoor solar-powered shower to avoid paying for hot water – all because of the low pay she receives as a full-time firefighter.

“This is not the life I envisaged for myself or for my son. We’re just trying to stay away from the food bank at this point.”

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters’ Union have been in negotiations for almost 18 months, with the union campaigning for increased pay, increased staffing levels and better mental health support.

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Firefighter Leanne Allen has been struggling to stay afloat as pay negotiations between Fenz and the union enter their 17th month.

The longer these negotiations go on, the worse Allen’s situation gets.

Based at the East Coast Bays fire station in Tāmaki Makaurau, Allen has been a firefighter for almost three years. If she doesn’t work overtime, Allen struggles to make ends meet.

Leanne Allen is calling for increased pay for career firefighters, and for Fenz to engage with firefighters on the ground.

“When overtime shifts dried up during the Auckland lockdown, my son and I had to give up eating meat. We couldn’t afford mince, so we would just have lentils.

“We would start cooking dinner at 4pm before the surcharge on power began.”

Allen and her 11-year-old son, Koa, also built an outdoor solar-powered shower to save on hot water bills.

Although she moved up one step on the pay scale in March of this year, Allen still relies on working overtime shifts to “stay afloat” in New Zealand’s most expensive city.

“I never imagined that, as an almost 47-year-old woman, I’d be raising my son with two flatmates. I’ve given up the idea of ever owning a house.”

During the school holidays in October, Koa went to stay with his father so that Allen could take every spare shift available, which resulted in her working almost 140 hours over the two weeks – almost double the average working week of 40 hours.

As a single mother with sole care of her son, Allen usually has to balance the pressures of spending time with Koa against the pressures of having enough money to provide for him.

“I’m in a constant state of anxiety about how to balance these two things. I need overtime to survive, but I also need to spend time with my son.”

Auckland Central firefighters went on strike in August over pay and working condition disagreements with Fire and Emergency NZ. (File photo)

Despite “absolutely loving” her job, Allen has had enough.

“You see a pattern emerging where there’s a repeated disregard for what the workers on the ground need and are asking for.

“After 16 months and three weeks of this back and forward, I’ve lost all faith that Fenz actually mean what they say when they pledge to resolve this.”

In response to questions about Allen’s situation, Fenz chief executive Kerry Gregory said he was “sorry to hear about her circumstances” and that he “would encourage her to talk to her manager about accessing support”.

“Fenz and the union are currently in the middle of negotiating their collective agreement. We’ve been working through these negotiations for around 18 months,” Gregory said.

“We are committed to reaching a settlement that is fair for our people and sustainable for the organisation.”

Gregory said members of the Fenz senior leadership team had been visiting stations around the country in recent weeks.

For Auckland union president Terry Bird, “the tactics Fenz are using just seem to be stalling tactics”.

“When you’re still being told after 18 months that the organisation is doing everything it can, you’d have to be stupid to believe them,” Bird said.

Fenz and the union met on Wednesday and will meet again on Thursday to continue their negotiation discussions.

A representative for the minister of internal affairs and an independent financial adviser attended the meeting on Wednesday and are expected to join negotiations again on Thursday.