Hospital, Strikers Reach Deal To End Lockout (CA)

POSTED: 10:33 am PST March 8, 2006
UPDATED: 4:31 pm PST March 8, 2006

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. -- Striking hospital workers locked out of Eden Medical Center approved a contract Wednesday that lets them return to work, union officials said.

Negotiators for the hospital and the union, which represents 300 nursing assistants, operating room technicians and clerical staff, reached the two-year contract agreement early Wednesday morning, and workers ratified the pact later in the day.

Hospital officials ordered the lockout Tuesday after picketing employees tried to return to work following a seven-day strike over wages and staffing levels.

Two groups of striking workers had been working without a contract since January 2003 and June 2004. <snip>

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