KEY POINTS:
District health boards are going to have to stop playing games before laboratory workers agree to go back to the negotiating table, their union says.
About 1200 workers are due to walk off the job tomorrow morning in a seven-day strike over pay.
Negotiations between the DHBs and the Medical Laboratory Workers Union broke down yesterday, and no more talks were scheduled, union president Stewart Smith said.
"The strike's set to start within 24 hours and I've had no indication from the employers that they're willing to talk any further."
Mr Smith said the only way the union would come back to the negotiating table was for the employers to "stop playing games".
"It's all game playing. They appear to be forcing us down this path that we've taken and I think there's going to have to be a re-evaluation on their position.
"We've evaluated ours a number of times to try to fit the scheme in and it hasn't worked out."
Mr Smith said the DHBs had refused to increase their pay offer of a 1.5 per cent rise in year one (2006) and a 2.5 per cent increase in year two (2007).
Instead a proposal for a single increase of around 4 per cent was made, payable sometime in 2007, he said.
The Medical Laboratory Workers Union wanted a 5 per cent pay rise per annum for its members.
"We had an indication last Thursday that Gordon Davies (Canterbury DHB chief executive) had room to manoeuvre and flexibility but we haven't seen that yet.
"There was no offer made at mediation by employers at all, there was a proposal that repackaged the money they had in the 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent offer in a different way."
Mr Smith said the DHB proposal looked like a repackage of the 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent deal.
"They couldn't tell us if there was any more money in it at all -- they were very reluctant to do that."
Mr Smith said an agreement had been reached for staff to return to work in life threatening situations.
Meanwhile the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) said measures had been taken to minimise the impact of the strike.
The service was responsible for collecting, testing, processing and delivering blood products throughout the country. It also operated blood banks that do the pre-transfusion testing in six of the District Health Board hospitals.
NZBS national marketing manager Paul Hayes said they had been working closely with the DHBs to ensure the impact of the industrial action would be minimised and that patients who needed blood and blood products would continue to have access to it.
NZBS had increased collection levels during the last two weeks to ensure that national stocks of blood would not be compromised during the period of industrial action, he said.
Hospitals were also asked to postpone elective surgery where there was a possible requirement for blood, which would reduce the demands on the Blood Service during the strike.
Blood collection would continue, but on a lower level than normal, he added.
"Our message to donors is that if they have received an invitation or made an appointment to donate blood that they should continue to keep those appointments unless we tell them otherwise" Mr Hayes said.
- NZPA
