History of the PCA
“Our Community came first”
We are the The Phlebotomists Council of Australia (PCA), formed in 2019 as a grassroots, member-led community by Phlebotomists.
Our Community came first, filling the large gap for a professional association for isolated workers, with 95% of Phlebotomists working in isolated or solo environments.
When Covid changed every way that the Pathology Sector had worked, safety became a greater concern and the Founder, Bec Luxton joined the Union Movement as they attempted to understand the Pathology sector better.
The PCA Union was formalised in August of 2023, under the request of Dorevitch Workers who needed to fight for their workplace rights when the Health Workers Union told them they could be demoted. The Pathology Sector has needed an active union fighting for their rights proactively.
Prior to PCA’s founding, the main association operating in the Australian Pathology Sector was Health Services Union and their various State Unions and United Workers Union.
Both are Multi Sector Unions who don’t understand the environment that the People in Pathology work in, they are also uninterested in organising these workers as they don’t fit the Trade Union Organising model of sitting in a tea room and signing up as many workers in one workplace in one day. 95% of Pathology Workers work in isolated or solo environments, you have to organise to connect with them in different ways, something the Unions have not been interested in whilst they have been advocating for changing the Aged Care Sector.
Although the PCA is the only National Pathology Specific Union, we are so much more than a Union. We Advocate, Educate and Innovate new solutions to support and foster the skills we have and want to attract to our sector for its betterment.
The PCA is the peak body for the people who work in pathology. We are the voice of the forgotten Healthcare Heroes who were the absolute frontline defence during the Covid Pandemic.
The Dorevitch Deal: The Landmark Case
As a State run subsidiary under the larger National Company of Healius, Dorevitch were the first Company to bring in an operational change that they hoped to see the savings of $500,000 in wages with a centralised rostering system.
This saw 20 long term Co-ordinators made redundant and another 25 Team Leaders were advised they were being demoted in pay and roles.
They had been advised by the Health Workers Union Organiser that under the Enterprise Agreement they negotiated, this could happen and there was no recourse for these workers.
5 Team Leaders fought the decision and set a precedent for the rest of their Co-Workers.
The PCA set a precedent that the demoted workers were re-established on the high wage, plus back pay for the wrongly demoted wages.
Additionally we set the calculations for Back Pay for On-call and Re-engagement and many received substantial back payments.
This win was estimated to be well above the $500,000 that was hoped to be saved by the company and saw the exit of the CEO shortly after this.
Industrial Laws similar to those in the 1980’s
Workers were worse off under the agreements that had been made by the previous Unions and their Employers.
Deals such as Long Service Leave negotiated to longer if they wait until 15 years to access aren’t suitable for this type of work or the demographics of workers.
Extra sick days for lower wages whilst the government had Covid sick pay available was useless. Less Allowances than the Federal Award demonstrated the lack of consultation and losing to sign on bribes demonstrated a gap between the Unions and the Workers.
“An industry rife with systemic bullying”
Each time a Pathology worker shares their story with a professional (usually a medical or legal professional assessing work practices) they tell a story of an industry rife with systemic bullying, oppression of disadvantaged cohorts of women and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) workers and severe psychosocial hazards.
Yet with the industry being predominantly funded by the Commonwealth dollar, it led to a simple question, “How can an Industry this horrible be receiving my tax dollars to treat people illegally and offer a poor service to the public?”
This is where the PCA is lighting the way forward. We aim to ensure that the Pathology sector will continue to attract educated and skilled workers, and be recognised as a role that is pivotal in the greater Healthcare Industry.
PCA have successfully petitioned for and are involved in the Governments only prerequisite for Commonwealth Fund, the Accreditation Process for Medical Laboratories in Australia. Large changes will be made to ensure that pathology environments are safe and fit for purpose for all employees. Especially the Collection Rooms where the samples are first taken as a new addition introduced by The PCA and our members.
“Worker Rights have never been so oppressed in Australia”
Worker Rights have never been so oppressed in Australia currently than they are in Pathology.
Unreasonable management actions are considered the norm. Workers are too fearful to raise concerns to WHS for fear of reprimand or job loss. Most Middle Management are not aware of the due diligence they are required to follow as an employer and this lack of education is driven consciously from the top.
Pathology is no longer owned by Pathologists wishing to do the best for the Australian Sector and Patients but CEO’s and Chairpersons who are appeasing Shareholders.
The COVID Hangover
As much as we want to forget it, the Pathology sector is still recovering from the Covid Pandemic, in three major areas, but not where you might think;
1. We have a Staffing crisis.
Pathology companies are scrambling every morning to find the staff to open the Collection Centres within Medical Practice to uphold their contractual obligations.
Yet they are advertising for roles consisting of 3-4 hours a day, 5 days a week. Must be available weekends. $27.45 an hour.
Who wants to work for $549.00 a week? Our long term staff who love the job are leaving for predominantly administrative roles that pay them double as they can no longer afford their living expenses.
We had the most staff in the sector from November 2021 until May 2022. As the Pathology clinics started cutting back Covid swabbing stations, they started to cut back all employees' hours.
2. We have a skills crisis.
As all the staff that joined our sector during Covid did so without the need for formal qualifications, they are now in the Collection Clinics taking blood samples. The majority have completed the workplace trainee components but not the accredited training.
Furthermore, with the staffing crisis and lack of incentives to join the sector, Employers are hiring on a “Bums on Seat” mentality and not for qualifications and experience.
The PCA is engaged in improving the current entry level training as mandatory, providing soft skills micro-credential training and further training to align with the Federal Government's goal to ensure all Healthcare Workers are working to their full scope of practice.
3. The Private Pathology Companies are crying poor
This is after pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars in half yearly profits during the Covid Pandemic.
The only sector that financially benefited from mandated government testing and a temporary increased Medicare Rebate of just over $100 per PCR Test has started a campaign to push for more Medicare Funding during the 2024 Federal Budget. If they do not receive this, they have threatened to introduce a Patient Gap Fee.
They have started this campaign just as 4 of the Private Pathology groups sat down to negotiate their employees enterprise agreements and potential pay increases.
Peak Body … Not Just a Union
Ever since our founding in 2019, the PCA has been a member-led, democratic Association. Our members decide what campaigns or actions they want to carry out in their workplaces, and what they want to be involved in as a community changing the culture in Australian Pathology. We hold focus groups and run regular meetings to support the interests of our members.
We not only provide the services that other Trade Unions provide, we know the exact level of support needed and that is why there has been conscious consideration to partner with Lawyers who are the best in the field, understand our ‘litigation and protect’ philosophy and show empathy and value our members.
We know that a majority of the devaluation of this sector comes from the perceived lack of knowledge through education.
The skill of Phlebotomy comes from acquired skills and learned knowledge
As the Peak Body for the people in Pathology, we have engaged with the Job Skills Network to improve the education and then the value will in turn improve. This is the same path that the Paramedics took from Stretcher Bearers to the career path they have available to them now.
Many of our members will become part of the Focus Groups to develop this training so that we retain the historic knowledge we have in the sector now.