Nurses in Petosky Michigan have been on strike since 2002, the longest nursing strike in U.S. history. Nurses at Northern Michigan Hospital will vote on re-certification with the Teamsters on June 2nd. Mark Ward has worked at NMH for 23 years. Since he went on strike, he says the hospital has shipped in replacement workers, and treatment has gone downhill.

[Ward ] "We're getting stories that come out of massive infection, loss of limb, death, stupid things that never would have happened if experienced nurses would have been in there."

Patricia Phillips has worked at NMH for 30 years. She says the most hurtful thing about being on strike is being ignored by former co-workers.

[Phillips] "It's worse than death. At least if somebody dies, you send
them a sympathy card."

Ward and Phillips say that nursing troubles need to start being called what they are: a women's issue. Since nursing is a primarily female profession, they say that people are far more likely to discount nurses struggles and not pay attention. Ward says support in Petosky isn't strong, and he's not sure the re-certification vote will pass.