Firefighters union slams sickies 'slur'

The firefighters' union has slammed evidence to the bushfires royal commission that
46 city firefighters took sickies on Black Saturday as a "massive slur".

Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) chief fire officer Tony Murphy on Thursday told the
commission that 46 city firefighters were "absent on unplanned leave" on February 7.
Mr Murphy recanted that figure on Friday morning and admitted only five people had
called in sick without a medical certificate.
Asked on radio if he had 46 people on unplanned leave, he replied "No".
"There were five people from the 46 that were without a certificate," Mr Murphy said.
"You know, this is a very, very complex issue."
A spokesman for Mr Murphy said the MFB's definition of "unplanned" was any leave
applied for or taken after a roster was finalised.
In this case, the roster was drawn up three weeks ahead of Black Saturday, he said.
United Firefighters Union (UFU) national secretary Peter Marshall said the
firefighters and the MFB were owed an apology by their leader after calling for a
vote of no confidence among members.
"That was not unplanned leave," he told reporters on Friday.
"People were on WorkCover, on promotional courses, on military leave, leave that Mr
Murphy would have approved.
"The figures were doctored ... to give a perception that there was a large-scale
absence on the day and there was not."
An emotional Mr Marshall said the false figures were provided to deflect examination
of wasted MFB resources on February 7 and in the aftermath of the devastating fires
that killed 173 people.
In particular, he said the public deserved to know about an MFB strike team of 22
firefighters kept waiting at Whittlesea for five hours on February 9 before
deployment to a large fire at Healesville.
The UFU has requested an urgent hearing at the commission on Monday to correct the
record.
"The damage that was done yesterday was not only unwarranted but it was very
hurtful," Mr Marshall said.
"We say it's not good enough to simply run a red herring about some ill-conceived,
factually wrong issue on absenteeism..."
"We want the real issues examined during this royal commission."