Laboratory Workers at Awanui Labs on Strike Tomorrow and Monday
16 November 2023
Full withdrawal strike action at Awanui Labs will proceed tomorrow (Friday 17th November) and Monday 20th November.
Strike details are below:
- Dunedin / Frankton / Wellington / Nelson / Timaru / Oamaru / Napier/Hastings
Friday 17 November 2023, 0001 hours to 2359 hours
- Christchurch / Ashburton / Invercargill
Monday 20 November 2023, 0001 hours to 2359 hours
Pickets will be held outside the hospital on Cumberland Street in Dunedin, and outside Wellington Hospital.
Talks in Wellington yesterday failed to bridge the gap between the parties.
Awanui Labs runs all the community and hospital medical laboratories in the South Island and Wellington District (with the exception of West Coast and Canterbury Labs at Christchurch Hospital).
Awanui Labs is 95% publicly funded by way of contracts for service with Te Whatu Ora. They assert at the bargaining table that Te Whatu Ora will not extend additional funding to them to close what is now a 30% pay gap with identical workers in Te Whatu Ora run labs.
“Our members expect to be paid the same as colleagues doing identical work in the directly run Te Whatu Ora labs,” remarked APEX Advocacy Lead David Munro today. “How Awanui funds that is their business,” he continued, “but the fact of the matter is that if they don’t step up to pay parity with the directly run public labs they will lose their professional workforce over time.”
An experienced laboratory technician moving from an Awanui lab to a public lab will receive a 30% increase to do exactly the same job. “And in Christchurch that is only a move to a lab 11km away!” concluded Mr Munro.
ENDS
Contact: David Munro – Advocacy Lead
Mobile: (027) 276 9999
Email: david@apex.org.nz
What is a Medical Laboratory Worker?
Medical Laboratory Workers are registered health professionals who run laboratories and test, interpret and report laboratory results. They are trained to identify disease and abnormalities through studying blood, tissue and other bodily samples. Laboratory workers work ‘behind the scenes’ but remain an integral part of the health system whose work is vital to patient treatment. More than 90% of prescribed treatments require laboratory input to aid/confirm diagnosis or to monitor drug levels or disease progression.
Medical laboratory science is a bit like detective work. Workers look for answers to the disease ‘puzzle’ to help doctors diagnose and treat their patients. They answer questions such as: are these cells abnormal? What do these blood cells tell us about this person’s health? How does it fit in with their other symptoms? How much of drug ‘x’ is in this person’s blood? Is it working effectively? What bug is making this person sick?
Medical Laboratory Workers take on a high level of responsibility, often needing to make important decisions under pressure. Emergencies can occur at any time, day or night, so laboratory workers have to prioritise and use their initiative, often without much back-up. If the doctor needs to know the answer, they have to deliver. Sometimes this means working through the night providing results while patients fight for their life in another part of the hospital or a surgeon waits, mid-operation, for a phone call.
Responsibilities include developing, adapting and applying scientific methods of analysis and ensuring high standards of quality assurance. An understanding of the methodology and theory behind complicated, technical and automated equipment is essential, as is developing the skills necessary to identify and interpret abnormalities under the microscope or via other diagnostic technology. Laboratory workers are highly regarded and sought after worldwide.