Parties silent after health service talks
RICHARD CRESSWELL
and SARAH SANDS
The sides in top-level health service sector talks in Wellington yesterday are remaining silent while negotiators in the discussions report back to members.
The talks had hoped to reach a compromise in the deadlocked negotiations involving hospital unions and employers, as 48-hour stoppages around the country seem likely this week.
About 1500 members of the Canterbury Hotel and Hospital Workers’ Union are ready to walk off the job in Christchurch from midnight tomorrow, unless the deadlock, which
has lasted for a month, is resolved. Hospital worker unions are seeking to amalgamate the award covering public and private hospital workers and rest home workers.
An announcement is expected later today about the outcome of the Well-
ington talks. The talks, between the hospital and rest home employers, the Federation of Labour, and the New Zealand Employers’ Federation were held at the request of the Arbitration Commission’s chief commissioner.
• The Canterbury Hospital Board is preparing to face further strike action by hospital workers later this week.
The board’s co-ordinat-ing committee met yesterday and decided to cancel all non-urgent surgery scheduled for today.
The move affects 20 cases at Christchurch Hospital, six cases at Burwood Hospital, 33 at The Princess Margaret Hospital, and 10 at Christ-
church Women’s Hospital. Notice of a second 48hour strike by members of the Hotel and Hospital Workers’ Union was given two weeks ago. Mr Ron Parker, the board’s chief executive,
said yesterday that if the action looked set to continue, surgery scheduled for tomorrow would also be cancelled. “We are having to prepare contingency
plans now to cope with the action if it goes ahead. “We think we have enough volunteers on the registers (from the previous strike) for the general hospitals and we plan to
call for volunteers at Sunnyside and Templeton Hospitals tomorrow.”
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Press, 1 December 1987, Page 9
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309Parties silent after health service talks Press, 1 December 1987, Page 9
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