The Northland District Health Board is accusing a union of holding Northlanders to ransom by planning more strikes by anaesthetic technicians in the coming weeks.
The Allied Scientific and Technical Union (APEX) has given notice to the Northland District Health Board (NDHB) of a 24-hour strike on October 31 and another to last two days starting at 7am on November 7.
APEX is representing 15 anaesthetic technicians employed by Northland DHB who are unhappy over pay and working conditions. When they initially went on strike on October 3, 24 elective surgeries had to be postponed and the Northland DHB lost eight hours of deferrable acute operating time.
NDHB was not in a position to say how many elective surgeries would have to be rescheduled if the planned strikes went ahead. During the strike days, public hospitals will continue to provide emergency and life preserving surgeries as part of an agreement with the APEX.
Anaesthetic technicians in Hawke's Bay had their second 24-hour strike on Wednesday this week and those in Invercargill followed suit on Thursday.