MONTEGO BAY, St James – The Union of Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Personnel (UTASP) will meet with the management of the Cornwall Regional Hospital on Monday, in a bid to settle the dispute between the institution and its striking medical technologists.

UTASP represents the more than 20 medical technologists employed to the hospital, who withdrew their services on Thursday to protest against the suspension of 10 of their colleagues who allegedly refused to attend a European Union-funded workshop at the hospital last month.

“We received a call from the management of the hospital today for a meeting on Monday to see how best we can deal with the situation,” St Patrice Ennis, UTASP’s general secretary told the Observer yesterday.

The employees, Ennis said, believe that their colleagues were unjustly suspended and have called for their immediate reinstatement.

The protest adversely affected laboratory services at the institution yesterday, resulting in the hospital being able to handle only emergency cases.

But despite the meeting planned for Monday, Ennis said yesterday, that the medical technologists would not return to work before Monday.

“We have not yet determined when they will go back to work, although we have scheduled a meeting, but it certainly won’t be before Monday,” said the UTASP general secretary.

Meanwhile, medical technologists employed to the National Public Health Laboratory in Kingston, who are also represented by UTASP, met with the union yesterday to discuss the matter.

According to Ennis, arising out of that meeting, a decision was taken to warn the Ministry of Health that failure to resolve the dispute on Monday could lead to medical technologists islandwide going on strike to support their colleagues in Montego Bay.