Following months of negotiations and protected industrial action, members at Healthscope Pathology have voted in favour of a new enterprise agreement.
Members have won fair pay increases and delegate rights with no loss of conditions of employment.
Negotiations for a new enterprise agreement commenced in July last year. Members claim was for a simple cost of living wage increase.
Healthscope scientist Anthony Newman says the claim for a modest wage increase was rejected by management which instead offered a deal that would see members’ wages cut in real terms.
“Healthscope is a multibillion dollar company and one of the largest pathology providers in Australia and what we’re asking for was fair.”
“We are scientists, technical officers, pathology collectors, couriers and administration staff, many of us work part time and are on low wages. We are proud of the work we do and the contribution we make to the health system but Healthscope had left us with no choice but to take industrial action.”
A number of actions were taken including an on-line campaign, asking patients to sign petitions, delaying non-critical results and answering phones with a campaign message.
“It wasn’t until we walked off the job and protested out the front of our Wayville lab that management realised we weren’t going to stop campaigning until they treated us with respect and paid fair wage increases”.
This win shows what can be achieved when workers are united in their union, act collectively and fight for a better outcome.
