ERROR RG P4 10.7.1998 The picture on yesterday's front page of Edward Ball Jr., the general secretary of the Bermuda Public Service Association was incorrect and showed another man named Edward Ball, who is a member of the Ord Road-Spring Hill Against Drugs group (ORSHAD).

Emergency talks are due to be held later this week in a last minute bid to avert threatened industrial action by hospital staff.

And, unless the talks manage to improve relations between management and nursing staff at the King Edward VII Memorial, nursing staff could walk out on strike.

The talks, organised by the BPSA, have come about after staff discontent at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital reached boiling point earlier this week.

According to BPSA General Secretary Edward Ball the straw that broke the camel's back was the appointment of an expatriate to a senior management position.

Staff nurse Leslie Shane secured one of the five $72,000-a-year posts even though she had only been at the hospital for five months. Nursing colleagues immediately voiced their disapproval and said they would be lodging a protest with the Immigration Department.

One concerned insider contacted The Royal Gazette to say that morale at the hospital had reached rock bottom and that Bermudian nurses had demanded an explanation from management as to why the appointment had been made.

Last night Mr. Ball confirmed that industrial action would be taken by staff unless the situation was resolved.

He said that the two main groups concerned about morale at the hospital were middle managers and nursing staff.

And, although admitting to not being in possession of all the facts, he fired a broadside at the hospital's senior management, warning that, unless staff concerns were addressed, discontent was bound to fester.

The BPSA was contacted by union representatives from the hospital yesterday morning and talks between the two parties hastily arranged. A Government Labour Department official will act as mediator.

"There was an expat that was given one of the programme management position and that person has only been on service at the hospital for the last five months - that has caused concern amongst some individuals,'' Mr. Ball said.

"Normally one is not even confirmed in a post after that amount of time, they have to serve a probation period.

"This morning staff decided that they have had enough and they have indicated to the BPSA that some sort of industrial action will be taken unless this situation is resolved.

"The appointment has angered staff and it's also instilling in staff a belief that their views are no longer being listened to.

"For whatever reason the trust level at the hospital isn't what it should be and that's fostering unrest. Staff no longer give any credence to what is said to them and it's making it difficult for the Union to have a feel for what's happening.

"But staff are the ones that run any operation and they can make or break you. It's imperative that they are at least listened to.

"Rather than allow this process to continue it's been suggested that we, together with a representative from the Labour Department, try and get this to the table and bring the parties closer together so that we can then move forward.

"The whole point of this exercise is to defuse the situation. Strike action is one option that's always there but something has to be done before we reach that point.'' Last night a hospital spokeswoman could not be contacted to comment on the latest development.

But earlier she explained that Ms Shane was qualified for her new position.

She added that she was not certain of the degree of unrest amongst other members of staff.

Ed Ball UNIONS UNS