Technicians employed at Dorevitch and Gippsland Pathology have now joined with scientists in striking for proper wages and conditions. We have said all along that we are ready to talk to the company, but so far they have not picked up the phone but instead have attempted to intimidate members back to work. This is a breach of the Fair Work Act.

Impact The action by scientists and technicians is now having a serious impact on services at a number of public hospitals with privatised pathology services including at Frankston Hospital, Latrobe Regional Hospital, Sale, Bairnsdale and Warragul Hospitals and Ballarat Base Hospital.

Strikebreakers On the one hand the company is trying to downplay the impact of the industrial action, and on the other is trying to entice scientists from NSW, Queensland and WA to come to Victoria to strike break. The Unions in those states are asking their members to say NO to any such requests.

In a related matter in Fair Work Australia today (formerly the Industrial Relations Commission), the company failed to appear and instead sent their barrister. This is after management asked for the hearing to be deferred for a week so that they could be available – then management fails to show.

In a bizarre submission, the company’s barrister opposed the Union’s application to correct the name of the employer on the Ballot Order. This is the Order permitting the ballot over industrial action to be held.

Our investigations showed that the legal name of the employer of members at Dorevitch Pathology and Gippsland Pathology is Symbion Health Limited. The company’s barrister at first maintained that the name of the employer was Specialist Diagnostic Services Pty Ltd, but later had to concede that this was not correct and that the Union was right.

The company failed to disclose the proper name of the employer when the ballot application was heard last August. It then opposed the ballot orders being amended today. FWA will now amend those orders.