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Pay Parity for Private Laboratory
APEX Medical laboratory workers in Whangarei, Taranaki, Waikato, Tauranga, Whakatane, Rotorua, Gisborne, Palmerston North, Whanganui, Hawkes Bay, the Wellington region and the South Island, have voted to walk off the job for 24 hours on the 5th of February and a further 24 hours on the 7th of February. The strike action will impact the majority of hospital and community services across the motu.
The strikes come off the back of APEXs bargaining claims for pay parity being rejected in three separate MECA negotiations with Awanui Labs, Pathlab Limited and Medlab Central/Tlab. Medical laboratory workers employed in these labs are paid on average 28-32% less than their Te Whatu Ora counterparts, despite performing the same work. The member’s message is simple “same work, same pay”. APEX has raised a claim for pay parity in each set of bargaining to rectify significant wage rate disadvantage, and in turn, enable the rebuilding of these struggling medical laboratory services.