New Zealand Blood Service Laboratory Workers to strike after 7 months of stalled pay negotiations

Laboratory workers at the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) will strike on Friday the 31st of May with further action planned in the following weeks.

The strike will be a 24-hour full withdrawal of labour for all APEX members – including scientists and technicians - at Christchurch, Auckland, and New Plymouth laboratories.

The planned strike action comes off the back of 7+ months of collective bargaining with no offer being made by NZBS. The stall in negotiations is largely attributed to a lack of movement from NZBS on the principal issue of parity with Te Whatu Ora laboratory workers rates of pay. There is currently a 21-28% pay differential between NZBS and Te Whatu Ora laboratory workers, despite both groups of workers performing essentially the same work.