Post-mortems carried out on the nine victims of last weekend's Fox Glacier air crash were delayed for up to two days by striking medical workers.
The Westland mayor says the delay will have been a cruel blow to the victims' families.
Radiographers have been taking industrial action over their pay, and striking staff are only able to work during their industrial action for life preservation.
Post-mortems are not covered in their agreement with district health boards.
The Auckland District Health Board says the post-mortems were delayed for about 48 hours after being caught up in the nationwide industrial action.
Westland district mayor Maureen Pugh says the delay could have caused unnecessary heartache to traumatised family members.
The union for the medical workers has not been available for comment.
