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Politics
Bernard Walker, Associate Professor in Organisations and Leadership, University of Canterbury

Striking firefighters are calling for systemic change, but are their demands too hot to handle for NZ employment law?

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Last week saw an historic moment as New Zealand’s professional firefighters went on strike, calling for better pay, more staff and increased investment in the fire service. But will industrial action spur the deeper systemic change in New Zealand’s fire service critics call for?

The strike is part of an employment dispute. Strikes can only usually happen within a short time frame, when the collective employment agreement is expiring and the two sides are negotiating a new agreement. The firefighters and Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) reached an impasse in their negotiations, leading to this action.

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