By Jessica Jordan
WAMU 88.5
American University Radio

March 04, 2011 - Hundreds of registered nurses from Washington Hospital Center, the city's largest hospital, were marching down Irving Street this morning, chanting "Up with the nurses, down with the bosses."

The bosses they're referring to are managers at WHC, who proposed cutting a bonus that a majority of nurses receive for working nights and weekends. That is one of the items that the union at WHC have been trying to negotiate over the past year with the nurses union.

The nurses who aren't marching have formed a large group at the entrance of the hospital. They're holding up signs that read "Put patients before profits" and "On strike for patient care."

Many drivers have slowed down to honk and read the signs, causing traffic to back up by the hospital entrance. The police have come out to direct traffic and move protesters to a different location.