Around 10 volunteers and a district officer met with Deputy Premier James Merlino and Buninyong MP Geoff Howard at the latter’s office on Monday to discuss the controversial EBA, which is still with the new CFA board.

Ballan group officer Shane Cramer, who attended the meeting, said it did little to ease his concerns.

“Fundamentally the meeting was a zero sum game. I'm reasonably confident that I didn't convince him (Mr Merlino) of anything, and he assuredly did not convince me that the EBA was a good thing for CFA, the Victorian community or volunteers,” Mr Cramer said.

“He seemed to support the notion that in spite of numerous things that were unclear in the EBA – which he acknowledged was the case – the solution was to sign it and if CFA and the UFU (United Firefighters Union) then cannot reach agreement on the interpretation of individual clauses then let it be sorted out in the Fair Work Commission.

“I think most people should be able to see the problem with that, and I find it disappointing that a legislator suggests that writing bad law and letting the courts sort it out is a good idea.”

Mr Cramer outlined one specific clause regarding the dispatch of seven career firefighters from integrated stations to fight fires as an example of a section that was difficult to decipher.

The clause in question was addressed in Fair Work Commissioner Julius Roe’s final recommendation, published on June 1.

Commissioner Roe’s revised wording for the seven firefighters dispatched clause is listed in his final recommendation as follows:

“4) Revised wording for 7 on fire ground Clause 83.5 (replace the relevant paragraph with the following)

“Consistent with the increases in staffing provided in this Agreement, the CFA will conduct an extensive range of preventative and preparedness programs and meet its duty of care by ensuring a minimum of seven professional firefighters to fire ground incidents are dispatched before commencement of safe firefighting operations. This requirement applies to integrated stations in Districts 2, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15 and 27. Consistent with the increases in staffing provided for in this Agreement, CFA will also ensure that there is a minimum of seven professional firefighters to fireground incidents that professional firefighters are dispatched to before commencement of safe firefighting operations for the following integrated stations being Shepparton and Mildura professional firefighters by no later than 1 January 2017 and Warrnambool professional firefighters by no later than 1 January 2018.””

Mr Cramer also raised concerns over safety implications of the clause.

“Its about crew numbers more than safety,  I would have thought that getting seven suitably qualified people on site would be the goal, whether they're career/union or volunteer,” he said.

“If volunteer firefighters specifically can't make up those seven people, yet can get to a fire in support quicker than extra career firefighters, but are not counted, then isn't safety or the firefight compromised?”

Mr Merlino said emphatically that “this agreement does not alter the role of volunteers in our fire service”.

“I'm talking to volunteer and career fire fighters around the state, including Ballarat, to dispel the myths and stop the misinformation so our fire fighters can get back to what they love doing - keeping our community safe,” he said.

Mr Howard said he was “confident” the agreement will allow volunteers and career staff to work co-operatively.

”The only things which will continue to change are improvements in training and safety, which should always be the case,” he said.

A UFU representative said the need for seven firefighters being dispatched is part of a ‘world’s best practice’ plan to ensure there are enough firefighters to conduct the fire-fight effectively.

“You have two people in breathing apparatus inside the structure,” he said.

“There are two outside for safety and rescue. There is an incident controller and a pump operator and then there’s a gopher.”

“It's not that we're not going to be calling on the volunteers (for those jobs).”