It's day three of a five day strike by health care workers throughout Washington state. 1,700 nurses and medical technicians are seeing their health care threatened by their employer, Group Health Cooperative. SEIU District 1199NW called the strike in response to company demands that employees' premium costs increase by 12 percent. Group Health is deflecting criticism by saying the strike will only hurt patients, and it's unwilling to pay for its nurses' medical care, however company officials say they are willing to hire replacement nurses at $50 an hour.

Chris Barton is a 30 veteran year nurse and Secretary Treasurer of the local.

[Barton1] "The amount of money that's being spent on the whole effort of trying to maintain patient care during a strike is phenomenal, so it's clear that this is not just an economic issue for the employer this is one in which they want to change the whole dynamic of how people pay for health care here."

Barton says that in the past nurses accepted lower pay for better benefits and believes her union is not only standing up for itself, but drawing a line in the sand for all employees who's health care is being threatened.
No further talks are scheduled with a federal mediator.