APEX Union have announced their members in Whangarei, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, and the South Island will take industrial action (strike) on February 5 and 7, 2025. The strike is a full withdrawal of labour, which means APEX Union members who work in the laboratory, collection centres, and logistics and support staff (in some regions), will strike on these days.
Our teams are working closely with Health NZ to manage the impacts to hospital services and the wider health sector. Priority will be ensuring those who are seriously ill still receive the critical, life preserving services they need.
Laboratory testing:
- Services will be severely impacted.
- Only samples for critically urgent testing will be processed
- Testing will be triaged and non-critical samples may be declined
- Drop boxes will NOT be cleared on this day
- To request a critically urgent courier pick-up please call 03 359 0900 (NOTE: Christchurch city only, NOT available for rural area)
Microbiology Services:
- Due to the prolonged nature of microbiology work, routine microbiology samples cannot be sent to the laboratory and will not be processed from Monday 3 February to Friday 7 February.
- Normal services will continue Monday 10 February.
- If you need to contact a clinical microbiologist, you can do so by using our new instant, secure, online clinical portal that provides direct access to Awanui clinical microbiologists. Connect here.
Histology:
- Please restrict requests. Turnaround time will be affected by the Industrial Action.
All Awanui Labs collection centres will be CLOSED on:
- Wednesday 5 February
- Thursday 6 February (Waitangi Day Public Holiday)
- Friday 7 February
This industrial action does not impact Canterbury Health Laboratories.