Court upholds (unemployment) benefits for St. John’s nurses on strike in 2004

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/01/12/daily38.html

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

St. Louis Business Journal

Nurses who went on strike in 2004 at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur are entitled to unemployment benefits, Missouri’s highest court said Tuesday.

The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously upheld a Labor Department ruling that awarded the benefits, saying the nurses could get benefits because the hospital’s alleged unfair labor practices prompted the nurses to strike.

Nurses with St. John's Mercy Medical Center went on strike for a month starting in December 2004. They applied for unemployment benefits, alleging the hospital's refusal to fire non-union nurses was an unfair labor practice.

The nurses voted to decertify the union in 2007.

The hospital is disappointed with the court's decision but thankful the union was disbanded, said Bill McShane, a hospital spokesman.