Nurses at Vermont hospital back at work after 2-day strike

Nurses at Vermont's largest hospital are back on the job after a two-day strike.

The strike of 1,800 nurses from the University of Vermont Medical Center ended at 7 a.m. Saturday after 48 hours.

Hospital administrators brought in outside nurses during the strike and say most hospital operations were unaffected by it.

The union is seeking about a 22 percent pay increase over three years. The Medical Center offered about a 14 percent pay increase over three years.

The union maintains higher wages are necessary to recruit and retain nurses and support staff and "address a crisis of understaffing."

Medical Center president Eileen Whalen says the strike had a cost of roughly $3 million.