About 100,000 lab tests will be derailed by next week's strike action. Photo: Tek Image / Science Photo Library / ABO via AFP
The country's largest private medical testing company has lost millions, saying its main contracts with Health New Zealand are not keeping pace.
Awanui has followed up a $16 million loss in 2023 with one of $15.8m last year.
"For the third straight year, there has been no dividend payment to our shareholders," it told staff this week.
Awanui was trying to fix the "funding gap" in talks with Health NZ Te Whatu Ora.
Staff at the labs in the Apex union plan to strike on the three non-holiday days of next week over logjammed pay talks, derailing perhaps 100,000 tests for patients.
"The April strike by 600 laboratory workers at Awanui and Medlab will be the third strike since February in their quest to resolve a 30 percent pay gap with Te Whatu Ora-employed laboratory workers," said Apex.
Awanui said most services across the South Island would be closed from 22-24 April.
Chief executive Anoop Singh said the private pathology sector was in a funding environment that had not kept pace with the financial pressures created by public sector pay equity settlements in 2023.
"This is a result of private laboratories being almost entirely funded by long-run, bulk-funded contracts with Health NZ that predate the pay equity settlement and don't allow for big increases in wage costs," he said.
Awanui was financially solvent, and had the full support of its board and investors, Singh told RNZ on Thursday. Ownership is mostly split between the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and a Canadian pension fund.
Last year, it released a plan to overhaul the lab-testing sector, drawn up with rivals Pathlab and Medlab Central.
"Better coordination of public and private laboratories will reduce costs," , said the plan, which recommended patients pay fees for new, complex tests.
The plan called for more long-term, flexible contracts with HNZ, and a mechanism for pay parity, and that research and development costs should be covered under the contracts.
Singh said there had been progress on setting more consistent national standards and tests lists, including through a HNZ-led clinical governance group. Awanui's talks with authorities to find "a sustainable solution that supports fair outcomes for our people and ensures long-term access to high-quality pathology services" were progressing well.
Staff wrote to the government about a year ago, saying they were at breaking point, and Te Whatu Ora responded that it was working with Awanui to address the issues they raised.
