Firefighters will protest outside parliament and march through Melbourne's city centre as a dispute between their union and the Victorian government deepens.
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The United Firefighters Union claims workers have been stabbed in the back and their safety is being put at risk after the government "ripped up" an enterprise bargaining agreement.
It expects 1500 firefighters from across the state at the rally, which starts at the fire station in East Melbourne before a march to parliament and then to the Fair Work Commission.
"Instead of focusing on how they will protect their communities, professional firefighters must now rush to protect their own safety and working conditions against attacks," the union's Victorian branch secretary Peter Marshall said.
He said firefighters had been negotiating with Fire Rescue Victoria for two years over 76 meetings and reached agreement on all but two matters but the organisation and government then "reneged".
The points of disagreement are pay and allowances.
"Instead of supporting professional firefighters as they confronted the coming bushfire season, (Fire Rescue Victoria) Commissioner Gavin Freeman and Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes have stabbed them in the back and have thrown two years of hard work into the flames," Mr Marshall said.
The fire and rescue service had been authorised to put forward a pay offer in line with the state government's wages policy.
"Our priority is for (Fire Rescue Victoria) to continue to negotiate with the representatives of their employees on that offer," a government spokesperson said.
The union has been locked in a long-running dispute with the Victorian government about presumptive cancer laws that were recently expanded to cover 15 diseases, with the union wanting that bumped up to 20.
The scheme means firefighters diagnosed with certain cancers will be presumed to have developed their condition because of their work and are eligible for compensation.
Some 211 claims were processed in Victoria between 2019 and June 2023.
The union was a key ally of the Andrews government when it came to power in 2014 but the relationship has soured over the 2016 Country Fire Authority pay deal, restructuring of state fire services and expansion of presumptive rights to fire service-affiliated mechanics.
Australian Associated Press
