According to Barbara Crane, president of the New York State Nurses Association at St. Catherine, the nurses are demanding an end to mandatory overtime in which the hospital administration can force nurses to work shifts as long as 24 hours without notice. "If you say you can't do it," Crane said, "they threaten to suspend your license or fire you."

Nurses are also fighting for retirement benefits and control over the nurse-to-patient ratio. "I have worked here for 25 years, I could work another 10 years and still I would walk out of here with nothing," Crane said. An additional demand is the right to work a steady shift assignment for the life of the contract.

Hospital president and chief executive James Wilson says the extra hours and understaffing are due to a national nursing shortage. "Recruiting registered nurses has become very, very difficult for every health-care provider in the country," he told Newsday. Recruitment difficulties, however, haven't stopped Wilson and the rest of St. Catherine's management from bringing in 100 nurses to replace those who are on strike.

The striking nurses are seeking support for their struggle. A busload of supporters, primarily members of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3, drove out from New York City and joined the picket line after work on November 27.