Nurses' strike ends after Kentucky, West Virginia bishops urge talks

Published: 2007-12-26

FRANKFORT, Ky. (CNS) -- Just days after the Catholic bishops of Kentucky and West Virginia urged dialogue between striking nurses and hospital management, hundreds of nurses voted to ratify a new contract to end a nearly three-month strike affecting nine hospitals in Appalachia. "The great health care needs of the people of central Appalachia make the resolution of the current impasse all the more important," said the Dec. 20 letter to two top executives of Appalachian Regional Healthcare System, the hospital network, and the leaders of the Kentucky and West Virginia nurses' associations on strike at the hospitals. "As the feast of the birth of the Prince of Peace approaches, it is our hope that all parties will work together to reach a just and equitable resolution for the issues that separate management and labor," the bishops wrote. The approximately 500 nurses who had been on strike since Oct. 1 voted Dec. 22 and 23 to ratify a contract that runs through April 2011. Although the hospitals hired about 150 replacement workers during the strike, Appalachian Regional Healthcare agreed to rehire all of the striking nurses by March 31.

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