Medical scientists were due to stage three days of protests next week.
Scientists ended a 12-hour work stoppage early on Tuesday after the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association and the HSE and Department of Health agreed to initial talks at the Labour Court.
The association says hospital labs are understaffed and says the HSE needs to do more to improve pay and conditions.
Protests this week and last week led to the cancellation of hundreds of outpatient appointments at Hospitals across Cork.
Speaking to RedFM News, Medical Scientist at CUH and union rep Eileen Hurley outlines how the lack of staff is impacting her and her colleagues:
"Some people are forced into maybe working at least one night a week. People have burnout. People can't take their annual leave. People are exhausted. We feel like we're being forgotten. We feel like we're ignored. I fear for two years time, I fear for 10 years time. When the pandemic happened we had the expertise to set up testing really, really quickly. We delivered on that and I would fear that in 10 years time, the expertise won't be left in the hospital labs if something similar was to happen again."
