31.   Unions say that reducing mandatory overtime has become increasingly important to their members.

32.   We talk about mandatory overtime.

33.   A threatened strike prompted the elimination of mandatory overtime at Aliquippa Community Hospital in Pennsylvania.

34.   Among the issues left to be settled are those, like mandatory overtime, that affect individual plants, he said.

35.   But union negotiators quickly denounced the offer, saying it failed to address such key issues as mandatory overtime and the shifting of workloads to areas of cheaper labor.

36.   But the issues that fueled the strike and dominated the protracted negotiations centered on union concerns about shifting work to areas of cheaper labor and mandatory overtime.

37.   Gwen Johnson, president of the union, said they are close to a salary agreement, but mandatory overtime and understaffing remain major issues.

38.   Hospital managers say the mandatory overtime provision ensures they can staff the hospital in any contingency.

39.   However, a final round of talks broke down Wednesday over mandatory overtime.

40.   However, to keep units properly staffed, many Garden State hospitals have been forcing nurses to work mandatory overtime, angering nurses.