Laboratory workers at Awanui Labs voted overwhelmingly in favour to take strike action

Laboratory Workers at SCL Labs – part of Awanui Labs - in the South Island and Wellington region have voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking strike action in mid-July in the face of no pay offer from their employer at collective bargaining.

Awanui Labs runs every medical Laboratory in the South Island except for at Canterbury hospital and West Coast hospital, and all medical laboratories in the Wellington region. Awanui is a privately owned laboratory group with shared investment from the NZ Super Fund, a Canadian teachers pension fund, and Iwi interests in Aotearoa. Last year it paid a 43-million-dollar dividend to shareholders.

The SCL collective agreement is a three-year agreement that expires at the end of June and was bargained back in 2020. ‘Since then, our Apex members have been the heroes of the Covid-19 response, whilst at the same time seeing the value of their wages eroded by the unanticipated Cost-of-Living crisis.’ said APEX Advocate David Munro today. ‘We have raised a claim that would see our members pay increase to rates paid to similar professional groups in the health sector. This has been met with no offer of any sort from the employer.’ he continued.

The strike in July is over a full week and will be accompanied by pickets at selected SCL locations.