Radiographers' dispute going to arbitration

Auckland's radiographers have called off tomorrow's strike after winning a date with independent arbitrators to settle their pay dispute.

The Auckland District Health Board said today it would send the dispute to binding arbitration early next year after advice from clinicians at its four hospitals that patients must not be endangered by more strikes.

Chief executive Graeme Edmond said he was extremely disappointed not to have reached a "reasonable" agreement with the Association of Professional and Executive Employees, the union representing the 90 radiographers, despite having made improved pay offers on Tuesday.

"On advice from our clinical board I took the decision that we could not subject our patients to the consequence of a further four days of strike action," he said.

"That left us with no choice but to go to arbitration on condition that the strike was called off - you cannot hold patients captive in pursuit of unreasonable demands."

Radiographers were threatening to strike for 48 hours from 7am today, and then for another two days from Monday morning, for a 10.3 per cent increase against a slightly improved pay offer of three percent for one year and two percent for the next.

Their walkout was called off as extra ambulances were preparing to rush seriously-injured patients to strike-free Middlemore Hospital if necessary, to avoid a repeat of a close call in a strike two weeks ago from delays at Auckland Hospital.

The Auckland board had this time flown in six non-union radiographers from Australia, to work for almost $44 an hour, after the union refused to continue to agree to exempt members for emergency duties.

But clinicians remained concerned about a lack of staff available for CT scanning, so pushed for serious injury cases to be diverted straight to Middlemore, putting heavy pressure on that hospital as well.

Union secretary Dr Deborah Powell was scathing tonight of the time the board took to heed her members' calls for arbitration, saying it could have spared the public and clinicians throughout the region the disruption of six days of earlier strikes.

"Someone should investigate the decision-making of the Auckland District Health Board - it couldn't negotiate its way out of a wet paper bag," she said.

To a suggestion that it was her members who caused the disruption by striking, she said they had been prepared to forgo their right to do so in favour of a fair and independent assessment of their pay claims.

Mr Edmond said arbitration was a last resort, to be drawn on only after his deficit-ridden board had tabled its best offer, and resisted until now because of a government directive to cap cost increases at 2 per cent.

He said the board had offered the equivalent of what was accepted last week by Counties- Manukau District Health Board radiographers, including a move from a 35-hour working week to 40 hour for more take- home pay.

Counties-Manukau radiographers accepted a 6 percent pay rise over 30 months, and a 50 percent increase in call-out payments, taking their starting annual rate in the first year to about $37,500.

This compares with a starting rate of about $31,000 which Auckland radiographers now earn for a shorter week.

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