Striking Missouri nurses win ruling on jobless benefits

JEFFERSON CITY — Striking nurses at a St. Louis hospital can get jobless benefits because they were forced off by unfair labor practices.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that awarded the claims.

Nurses with St. John's Mercy Health System went on strike for a month starting in December 2004. They applied for unemployment benefits, alleging the hospital's refusal to fire nonunion nurses was an unfair labor practice and a factor in the strike.

A federal court and the National Labor Relations Board determined that St. John's committed an unfair labor practice by not releasing the nonunion nurses or not complying with arbitrators calling for that.

The state high court ruled that the striking workers were unemployed because of their employer's actions and through no fault of their own.