“Disappointed” SA Firefighting Body Apologises to Canada

Working on Fire, the South African group whose team of 281 firefighters went to help fight wildfires in Canada, said on Friday it was “extremely disappointed” with the turn of events this week when its team refused to work for two days over a pay dispute, which then “escalated into an international incident”.

“To have a dispute about remuneration, and to be accused of being unfair towards our people, is in direct contradiction of our company values,” Working on Fire said in a statement late on Friday.

The firefighters downed their equipment on Wednesday and Thursday after repeated news reports that they were being paid more than they were actually getting, and far less than the minimum wage in Alberta, Canada. Working on Fire said in its statement that formal contracts were signed by its entire team, and it was a pity that the matter could not have been settled internally.

Working on Fire has sent staff to Canada to demobilise the South African contingent that arrived on May 30, and will almost certainly bring them home. Countless messages of thanks were sent to the team when they left South Africa, but the goodwill seems to have turned sour this week, as it became unclear who – if anyone – could be blamed.

Many were asking: Should the Canadians have known from the outset to pay the South Africans more? Should Working on Fire have negotiated a better payment for the firefighters? Should the firefighters have dealt with management first before going public? Was some middleman pocketing money that the firefighters should have got?

It was also unclear whether the firefighters would face a disciplinary hearing on their return to South Africa, but Working on Fire’s chairman Johan Heine was quoted on Twitter saying the firefighters’ strike was extremely embarrassing.

“Working on Fire (PTY) Ltd has successfully completed numerous international deployments in the past. We always agree on remuneration with our firefighters when going on deployments of this nature and, as in this instance, formal contracts were signed,” it said in its latest statement.

“We are a company that is proud of the service we deliver and over the years, we have proven to the world that we are experts in fighting wildfires. We are ultimately here to save lives, the environment, and property from the damages caused by wildfires.

“To have a dispute about remuneration, and to be accused of being unfair towards our people, is in direct contradiction of our company values.

“It is part of the firefighter ethos to first and foremost deliver an emergency service.

“We are extremely disappointed that we couldn’t resolve this internally before it escalated to become an international incident.

“For Working on Fire (PTY) Ltd, it has never been about making money.  It has always been about assisting countries (such as Canada) who are facing massive and destructive wildfires.

“We are currently investigating the matter internally and wish to apologise to both the Canadian government and Canadian citizens for any inconvenience this may have caused.

“We wish to ensure the public that we are treating this matter with the utmost importance, and are committed to finding an amicable solution as soon as possible.”