1.   Howard asserted that the striking nurses, represented by the Washington Nurses Association, were chiefly interested in higher salaries.

2.   In Washington, the striking nurses insisted repeatedly that concern about the quality of patient care had kept them on the picket line.

3.   The striking nurses have hardly been quiet.

4.   Other striking nurses stood outside the hospital in the capital, Philipsburg, and blocked the entrance.

5.   Both striking nurses and the handful who had obeyed the order to return received letters of dismissal Friday.

6.   In anticipation of a strike, hospitals had lined up non-contract nurses, nursing assistants, supervisors and replacement nurses to cover for striking nurses.

7.   Striking nurses brandish signs and banners denouncing corporate greed.

8.   Toddlers recovering from tracheotomies scamper between wards under the eyes of striking nurses blithely eating and chatting.

9.   Thousands of striking nurses in the Johannesburg area were threatened with the sack unless they returned to work Friday.

10.   Masondo told a news conference that action would be taken if the striking nurses ignored the Thursday deadline, but declined to elaborate.