Laboratory workers are poised to go on strike.
Apex union yesterday issued strike notices which may result in more than 700 laboratory workers walking off the job for 24 hours on September 4.
Laboratories in Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, Queenstown and Invercargill are among the workplaces affected by the nationwide industrial action in private laboratories.
Advocate David Munro said laboratory staff were vital workers and they were not being offered a fair pay rate.
"The country’s laboratory workforce has not been offered wage improvements which would match comparable DHB pay rates, lift all employees above the living wage and achieve recognition of the qualifications of this professionally registered medical workforce," Mr Munro said.
"For the last six months, our laboratory colleagues have been holding the line against Covid-19, on top of their normal clinical workloads.
"Unseen and unsung, this incredibly talented, skilled, and hard-working group of health professionals play a vital role in our public health response."
The Southern District Health Board — which contracts testing services from Southern Community Laboratories — one of the affected laboratories, said it hoped mediation could resolve the dispute before the strike date.
"We understand the main impact will be on turnaround times in the service, but that urgent tasks will be prioritised," SDHB medicine, women’s and children’s health general manager Simon Donlevy said.
“We are also advised that Covid testing will continue during this period, but again that turnaround times may be affected."
Mr Munro said the lab workers did not want to strike, and that no health workforce should have to choose between protecting its employment condition or its patients.
