NHLS‚ unions in meeting to resolve lab strike impasse

Unions at the National Health Laboratory Services were on Thursday afternoon meeting with management in an effort to resolve a strike which entered its second day on Thursday.

Public Servants Association deputy general manager Tahir Maepa confirmed the meeting but said there had been no feedback from the union’s representatives.

Although the NHLS had not indicated how the strike had affected its operations‚ unions stated that the strike had disrupted activities in laboratories around the country.

Democratic Alliance Gauteng MPL Jack Bloom said his observation on Thursday was that the strike had shut down virtually every laboratory in the province.

Bloom said although the provincial health department had arranged with private laboratories to do emergency tests‚ many other tests would not be done and backlogs would grow.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions also called on the NHLS to accede to workers’ demands.

Cosatu said the strike had an adverse effect on the lives of all those who were awaiting their HIV‚ cancer and malaria tests results‚ especially those whose results would determine whether they needed to undergo operations or not.

The PSA and the National Education‚ Health and Allied Workers' Union embarked on a strike following a deadlock in their negotiations with NHLS.

- TimesLIVE