Dorevitch Pathology is proposing changes at regional laboratories including Albury, Benalla and Frankston which will lead to redundancies – and had to be reminded of the requirement under the EBA and award for consultation with the Union and employees – otherwise we were headed for the AIRC.

Discussions took place in the Albury laboratory on Monday, and are continuing in relation to the process and entitlements. It was agreed that a written outline would be made available to staff at Albury next Monday. We are yet to see a draft of this document. We can only conclude that Dorevitch Pathology now does not intend to provide it. We will notify a dispute to the AIRC regarding this matter if Dorevitch continues to obstruct proper consultation, and not adhere to agreed outcomes.

We have had relatively good relationships with management at Dorevitch up until now (notwithstanding some robust disagreements). This new approach is likely to reflect the influence of Primary Health, which took over Symbol in April 2008, and has no experience in running a pathology service of the size and, up to now, quality of Dorevitch and Gippsland Pathology. We trust that they will learn.