Laboratory workers strike

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Hospital and community services will be impacted when laboratory workers go on strike today and on Friday.

The striking workers, who are employed by privately-owned laboratory providers and are members of the Apex union, will withdraw all their labour for 48 hours in support of three separate collective bargaining negotiations.

APEX has raised a claim for parity with Health NZ Te Whatu Ora rates of pay in each set of negotiations with Awanui Labs, Pathlab Limited and Medlab(/Tlab).

These employers are mainly funded by Health New Zealand and have rejected APEX’s claims for parity on the basis it is unaffordable.

APEX Laboratory workers were paid between 28 percent and 32 percent less than Te Whatu Ora laboratory workers who undertook the same work, the union said.

The union said the impact was that laboratory workers were making the jump to Te Whatu Ora and leaving a large portion of the country’s diagnostic services short staffed.

In Whakatāne, laboratory workers will be protesting from 10am at the Hub today.

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