Extensive efforts are underway in Cuba to control a major fire that broke out at an oil storage facility in the city of Matanzas, reports Tanupriya Singh.
firefighters
Bob McIlroy is a small farmer in the Bonang region of East Gippsland, Victoria, with 30 years' experience with the local Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA). He spoke to Green Left about the experience of the giant bushfires and what needs to be done.
Rural Fire Service volunteer Robynne Murphy, who has been on the bushfire frontline since November on behalf of her local community on the NSW south coast, told Green Left: "I want this government brought down because they have no solutions".
Around 100 people formed a circle at the Queen Victoria Building on January 5 to call for urgent government intervention on the fire emergency, support for the firefighters, and real action to combat climate change. The vigil was organised by Extinction Rebellion Sydney.
Newtown firefighters have once again set a fine example of international people-to-people solidarity by posting "Peace be with them" in Farsi on their noticeboard.
They are showing solidarity with 20 or more firefighters in Tehran, Iran, who sacrificed their lives fighting a fire in the 17-story Plasco building on January 20. The high rise was built in the early 1960s and was the tallest building at the time of its construction.
I came across members of the Iranian community who had come to thank Newtown firefighters for their solidarity.
The federal government has published a proposed law to restrict the rights of firefighters and other emergency service workers.
The new law will amend the Fair Work Act to ban enterprise agreements covering workers employed by a “designated emergency management body” from containing “objectionable” terms — including requirements for management to consult with the relevant union.
Emergency service workers rallied on October 29 to oppose attempts by the Victorian government to introduce sweeping changes to the Transport Accident Act, which would take away emergency workers’ common law right to seek injury compensation for psychological injury, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Peter Marshall, Victorian Secretary of the United Firefighter Union, told the rally: “63% of firefighters have moderate post-traumatic stress levels, 17% have full blown post-traumatic stress levels, and that is on the increase.