Nurses to leave their posts for four hours today in symbolic protest walk-out

Nurses will stage a nationwide four-hour strike today as part of their work stoppages over the last three weeks in an attempt to secure pay raises. Their petitions are usually directed to the managers of the state-supported clinics or hospitals in which they work, and they are unable to authorize salary hikes. The nurses want their salary raises to be guaranteed in a bill. "The government is not their employer, so it is not in a position to decide on salary raises for that occupational group," says governmental spokesman Krzysztof Luft. (Zycie, p.1;Rzeczpospolita, p.A1) A.Z.