EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio - Union nurses at East Liverpool City Hospital are still working without a contract.

A contract proposal by East Liverpool City Hospital was overwhelmingly voted down over the weekend. 

The nurses remain on the job but say Prime Healthcare's last, best, and final offer is not a good deal for nurses, patient care or the community.

"The nurses want the hospital, they want Prime Health Care to listen to them, to acknowledge there is a retention issue. And the only way you're going to fix that is to invest in your nurses and your patients because if you invest in your nurses, it means you are investing in optimum patient care, and you care about the community," said Molly Homan, director of communications for the Ohio Nurses Association. 

The Ohio Nurse Association says East Liverpool pays some of the lowest wages in the state, which leads to an almost perpetual retention problem. They say that by driving 20 to 30 minutes away, nurses can make $10 an hour more. They say this means higher pay and less mandated overtime working at other hospitals. 

ONA says that during the three-day strike, the hospital brought in out-of-town nurses and paid them on average double, sometimes triple, what they pay their community East Liverpool nurses.

"In three days, that added up to more than what the nurses were proposing for a wage increase with our bargaining proposal, so they traded three days of temporary help for 365 days of investing in their community nurses. That's really, really bad," Homan said. 

The nurses say they are not at an impasse but add that the hospital has an obligation to go back to the table and negotiate in good faith.

The nurses union has filed several complaints with the National Labor Relations Board against the hospital. The decisions are expected in the new year.

The hospital issued this statement when we reached out for comment: 

“ELCH values our frontline staff and we will continue to provide high quality and compassionate healthcare to our community in a safe environment.  ELCH is open to continuing our communication with the ONA.”