KEY POINTS:
Radiation therapists are set to resume strike action next week despite warnings that cancer patients' lives could be put in danger.
National secretary for radiation therapists Deborah Powell said today staff at Canterbury District Health Board (DHB) were walking off the job for three days and all other DHBs, except Otago, were striking for one day at a time.
Otago DHB therapists was running an administration ban.
"This is just ongoing part of the action. For some time now there's been sporadic action," Ms Powell told NZPA.
About 170 radiation therapists -- who provide cancer treatment -- started a range of industrial action in September, which lasted for two weeks.
The industrial action, over a cost of living dispute, consisted of overtime bans or stopping work for periods of between 45 minutes and four hours.
Ms Powell said the employer's first offer was zero per cent and then moved to 1.4 per cent after the first strike.
"It hasn't reached an acceptable level so hence the escalation in action."
Next week's industrial action was decided on December 22 after the DHBs rejected a deal of a 3 per cent payrise for 2006 and a further 3 per cent in 2007, Ms Powell said.
Life preserving work would still be performed, she said.
Yesterday a cancer specialist said the strikes would add to treatment delays, which would put patients in danger.
Dr Chris Wynne, clinical director of radiation oncology at Christchurch Hospital, told The New Zealand Herald that some patients nationally had to wait longer than four weeks to start radiotherapy.
They include prostate cancer sufferers and post-surgery breast cancer patients having curative treatment, plus those having radiotherapy to relieve pain and other symptoms from incurable tumours.
"Since September-October there have been a number of full-day strikes, overtime bans, lunchtime strikes, after-hours strikes. Everywhere around the country has seen an increase in their waiting times," Dr Wynne said.
Last month Dr Wynne took up smoking to draw attention to patients suffering during strikes by radiation therapists.
He said it was the only way he could highlight the plight of cancer patients during industrial action by radiation therapists.
Strike plans:
Auckland: January 11 and 15.
Canterbury: January 9-12 .
Wellington: January 11 and 15.
MidCentral (Palmerston North): January 15-19.
- NZPA
