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Nurses Who Went On Strike Claim Employer Is Locking Them Out

DREXEL HILL, Pa. (CBS) -- Nurses who walked off the job at Delaware County Memorial Hospital earlier this week now say they are being locked out by their employer. But the company that runs the hospital says they had no choice.

Nurses and technicians at Delaware County Memorial Hospital staged a two-day strike on Sunday and Monday.

Nurses Strike At Delaware County Memorial Hospital

"This new for-profit company that took over Delaware County Memorial Hospital is creating all kinds of short-cuts on staffing conditions," says Bill Cruice with the union Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.

He says those so-called staffing shortcuts can create dangerous or deadly situations for patients.

Prospect Medical Holdings, which bought Crozer last summer says, after the two-day strike, they had to lock-out the employees because the replacement staffing company they're using has a minimum of five days.

But Cruice disputes that.

"We believe that the extra three days of the lockout is punitive on the part of the hospital."

He says the union plans to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

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