at its 11th Annual Labour Day Banquet at the Southampton Princess Hotel.

Former general secretary and present research officer of the BIU, Dr. Barbara Ball, was honoured after 31 years of service.

The event attracted approximately 300 people, including BIU members and officials, representatives of fraternal unions and Labour and Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman.

Keynote speaker for the evening, Mrs. Lois Browne Evans MP, lent an especially personal prospective to her testimonial, reliving her three decades of friendship with Dr. Ball.

Referring to the honouree as "a trail blazer'', Mrs. Browne Evans charted Dr.

Ball's association with the union, and some of the difficulties she experienced as a result of it.

Dr. Ball first gained fame at a time when only landowners retained the right to vote. She was one of the few white Bermudians who openly demanded that all people should have the right to vote at age 21.

"In those days it took tenacity and courage for a white woman to do what she did,'' said Mrs. Browne Evans.

Recounting the 1963 mini-strike at the hospital, when Dr. Ball joined the picketers once her rounds at KEMH were through, Mrs. Browne Evans said that her participation in the union's activities resulted in her suspension. She was eventually reinstated.

Mrs. Browne Evans said that following the strike for recognition at the Bermuda Electric Light Company in 1965, members of Dr. Ball's church refused to attend services at which she was playing the organ. Calling the incident an example of "white ostracism'', Mrs. Browne Evans once again referred to the honouree as a strong individual, who was willing to put herself on the "front lines'', even if it meant personal hardship.

Despite having represented the PLP in parliament for 12 years, Mrs. Browne Evans said that Dr. Ball has made it clear that she would not hesitate to vote against the PLP if the rights of the work force was in any way threatened.

"The workers always come first to her'' said Mrs. Browne Evans A roar of laughter and cheers filled the room when Mrs. Browne Evans closed her speech by recounted a confrontation Dr. Ball had with a former Premier, in which he reportedly called her "a flea''. "Yes, and I'm going to keep you scratching'' was her reply.

The guest speaker for the evening, American Dr. C. Delores Tucker, gave a rousing and inspirational speech, which was filled with quotations from prominent African-Americans, and jokes-with-a-message.

Her distinguished career has included such posts as Secretary of State for Pennsylvania, president of the National Federation of Democratic Women, and chairperson of the Democratic National Committee Black Caucus.

She began by "thanking'' BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons MP for having the good taste to let women take over the podium for the evening.

Dr. Tucker focused on the importance of unions in society and those elements threatening to destroy them, adding that the only way workers can be guaranteed protection is to be organised.

"The struggle is not over,'' she said,"If there is no struggle, there is no progress.'' She also went on to say that blacks should help and support each other morally and economically, in the same way that the Jewish community supports "its own'' - no matter where in the world they may be.