​The issue has resurfaced in recent weeks, nearly a year after a similar misinformation campaign by the union, and once again there are threats to ‘withdraw’ their labour.

Some of the comments made by the union in recent weeks include:

Claim: The City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue service operational staff are contracted as 40 hour workers (40h x 4weeks = 160hours/month). But because they are a service that needs to be available 24/7, 365 days a year they work 24 hour shifts on an average of 10 days a month (24hours x 10days = 240hours/month), meaning they have to work a compulsory 80hours overtime a month.

FACT: Fire and Rescue Service staff are not 40-hour workers. There is a Main Collective Agreement in the Local Government Sector which requires the work hours of these staff members to be determined jointly between the City, IMATU and SAMWU in the local Division of the SALGBC Bargaining Council. The current work hours of the Fire Service are regulated by an agreement to which SAMWU is a signatory.

Claim: They have what they call a Fire Lapse agreement that was in place to account for these 80 hours to remunerate them fairly, which will be explained in depth further on. This Lapse Agreement expired in 2010 and the firefighters have been working according to it in good faith ever since. Until recently they have given notice to walk away.

FACT: The collective agreement is not a City agreement and was concluded with the unions (SAMWU and IMATU). The agreement determines the working hours of staff and was concluded in 2007, with a period of operation until 2010.  When the agreement came to an end in 2010 the parties (the City, IMATU and SAMWU) agreed that the agreement continue in force and effect until a new agreement was negotiated. When negotiations to review the collective agreement started, the City offered to increase the standby allowance to 30%, but this was rejected. Voluntary arbitration saw a 35% allowance offer tabled, which too was turned down.

At that stage, the parties, including SAMWU, declared disputes on the matter which, in terms of the Labour Relations Act, required the dispute to be resolved via an interest arbitration as the Fire Service is a designated Essential Service. SAMWU chose not to pursue their case via interest arbitration and instead opted to approach the Labour Court for resolution. To date, SAMWU has not pursued this course of action and has persisted in publishing the incorrect facts in the media about the agreement. Instead of acting in the interest of their members to resolve the labour dispute, they have opted to draw it out, essentially waging the matter in the media.  This is not in the interests of the firefighters.

The City would further like to reiterate our comments made in October 2018, as relates to the monthly allowances which is in dispute, and not firefighter salaries.

Under the current collective agreement that was signed in 2007, unions representing firefighters agreed to work 24-hour shifts that equate to a 56-hour week. As this is higher than the regular 40-hour work week, unions further agreed to a 22,8% allowance over and above their basic salary, to account for the additional hours.

By way of explanation; the shift pattern for firefighters is:
•   Week 1: two shifts = 48 hours
•   Week 2: three shifts = 72 hours
•   Week 3: two shifts = 48 hours
In between this pattern, firefighters are off duty (every third week) for a period of 96 hours i.e. 09:00 from Friday to 09:00 the next Tuesday. This pattern then repeats itself and averages to 56 hours per week over the year.

Similar 24-hour shift systems exist across the world and elsewhere in South Africa. The majority of firefighters prefer this shift system as it not only gives them a lot of personal time while on duty, but also allows for multiple days off which gives them greater freedom than any other shift system would. On average, a firefighter would spend four hours per day responding to fires, with longer hours during peak fire season and fewer operational hours during off-peak fire season. The 24-hour shift system is optimal from an operational point of view, as shorter shifts compromise effective fire responses.

On weekdays, firefighters do active duties like training, drills and equipment maintenance between 09:00 and 18:00. For the rest of the time, they are required to be present at the fire station until their shift ends at 09:00 the following day, but unless there are call-outs, this is considered down time. During down time, staff members take turns to man the ‘watch room’ for incoming calls. If there are no duties or emergency incidents, they involve themselves with recreational activities of their choice. Firefighters are also allowed to sleep during this time and sleeping facilities are provided. Firefighters also keep themselves busy playing games, exercising, studying, reading and otherwise.

On weekends, active duties are from 09:00 until 13:00 on a Saturday and 09:00 – 10:00 on a Sunday, with the rest of the hours considered downtime/standby.

The City of Cape Town is committed to resolving this matter, but we are unable to move forward until such time as SAMWU proceeds through the correct channels. It will also require the City to consider the very significant financial implications, as their current demand stated through the media would require a R146 million additional budget which would have to be funded by the ratepayers or taken away from another City department.  It also requires sincere engagement with the Fire and Rescue staff members represented by the union as the City does not believe that the requested changes, if fully understood, advantage the firefighters to the extent that the union may have suggested.

We once again appeal to firefighters to honour their current working conditions until such time as the matter is resolved.

End