Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association turned out by the thousands to authorize an open-ended strike at 14 hospitals. No date has been set, and union officials have said they would hold off on giving the required 10-day notice if the two sides were in "productive negotiations." At the earliest, a strike could begin in early July. After conducting a one-day strike on June 10, union officials decided they needed the leverage of the strike authorization to pressure the hospitals to reach a favorable agreement.