Nurses ratify new contract, end nearly 10-month strike

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Nurses at a Massachusetts hospital have voted to ratify a new four-year contract with management that ends what their union calls the longest nurses strike in state history. The deal was ratified during an all-day vote Monday. The tentative agreement between about 700 nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester and hospital owner Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare was announced on Dec. 17 after an all-day bargaining session. The strike started on March 8. The deal includes staffing improvements, pay and health insurance boosts, and gives striking nurses the right to return to their old jobs.