Arbitrator Allan Hope Q.C. released his long-awaited decision in the case of Nanaimo Regional General Hospital worker Vicki Bertram, and it is not good news for the union activist nor the Hospital Employees' Union. In the recommendation, Hope upholds Bertram's dismissal from her position. Bertram was fired last August in the wake of a sit-down protest which itself followed a summer of volatile labour/management relations. "The union is naturally disappointed at this decision," says secretary-business manager Chris Allnutt. "We believe that Ms. Bertram's termination was unjust, and that is why we fought it." Allnutt says the union has just received the text of the decision and wants to study it before deciding what its next action will be.