The decision this week by many of Northern Michigan Hospital's registered nurses to strike evoked reactions ranging from strong support to sharp criticism from members of the News-Review's reader panel.

To panelists like 32-year-old Alan Hegedus, the nurses' right to negotiate a contract through the Teamsters Union seems clear, and some of the concerns they hope to resolve through the collective bargaining process legitimate.

"I guess I'm in support of the nurses," said Hegedus, a Harbor Springs resident who works in publishing. "It seems like the hospital (management) is stonewalling."

Hegedus said it hasn't been easy to determine the validity of some statements by management and the union on strike-related issues.

But he added that after speaking with various hospital employees, the unionization issue seems to be the latest in a series of business-related negotiations which hospital officials have entered without much willingness to compromise.

To Hegedus, nurses seem to be paid a reasonable basic wage at present. But based on what he's learned about those hospital employees' current package of retirement benefits, he said the nurses' desire to improve their compensation package seems valid.

Arness Cox of East Jordan said he finds himself agreeing to some extent with the nurses in the labor dispute.

"I think management ought to at least sit down and discuss some of the issues," the 57-year-old bus driver said.

Cox said nurses seem to have a legitimate desire in seeking staffing levels that allow them to adequately respond to all patients' needs. He added that hospital management seems to be driven at least in part by a desire for personal financial gain.

"We have certain segments of the community that gouge the other aspects, but I guess that's the American way," Cox said.

Nels J. Northup of Boyne Falls was supportive of the same side in the labor dispute as Hegedus and Cox.

"I'm 100 percent for the nurses," the 64-year-old retired teacher said. "If people are standing up for the right things - and I believe the nurses are - they deserve to be heard."

From the information he's gathered on the negotiations so far, Northup said the hospital management seems to be following a course like school administrators did when he and other teachers sought to negotiate contracts in two Michigan school districts years ago.

"They just totally ignore and come up with their own ideas," he said. "I just believe in the nurses for that reason."

Nurses' concern about maintaining manageable patient loads seems the most crucial issue in the strike to Northup.

"Nurse-patient ratio is very important," he said. "It's more important than fringe benefits."

Having been treated at NMH, Northup said he has "not yet met a nurse here I don't like."

Henry G. Meltvedt of Conway has been involved with school contract negotiations from the management side of the table. Based on that experience, Meltvedt, 73, said he believes one thing will be important once the labor differences are settled.

"The most important thing is, when it's all over, you bury it and go back to your job," he said. "Avoid bitterness."

Added Meltvedt: "I don't think either one is right or wrong," he said. "I think there's issues on both sides."

Nurses' concern to improve their retirement package seems reasonable, Meltvedt said, while management to him seems to have a legitimate need to maintain a viable financial position for the hospital.

Dennis Christensen of Boyne City also expressed mixed feelings about the strike.

The maintenance supervisor for Boyne Mountain's golf division said he appreciates the high level of skill with which nurses approach patient care and recognizes the odd, lengthy work schedules they often must follow.

But if wages are the sticking point for nurses, Christensen said he believed they are not taking a valid position.

"Their average wage comes out to some $20 an hour," he said. "Being a blue-collar worker that has never made that kind of money, I have mixed emotions. I'm kind of against the strike."

Christensen also questioned hospital management's decision to staff the hospital with replacement nurses during the strike at $40 per hour each.

"I think that's wrong," he said. "If they've got this extra cash to lose, they can afford to bend a little bit toward the nurses' requests."

Trust is weighing on Lucien-Michel "Micky" Berryer's mind. After hearing a handful of issues the Teamsters have given alternating comments on, he worried that neither they nor the hospital could be counted on for all the facts.

"I support the nurses, who should have a fair shake," Berryer, 73, said. "I definitely think they're entitled to a contract, and in any kind of bargaining there should be fair behavior on both parties.

"But one lie equals a thousand lies. We have a very old saying in French: If you'll steal an egg, you'll steal a cow. If either party is withholding or changing information, how can we trust anyone to tell us what's really happening?"

Berryer, a French-born consultant for North American Steel, said he'd like the collective bargaining sessions to go public.

"How can we make a balanced judgment if we are not witness to the proceedings?" he said. "I do feel the nurses should be protected. I don't feel we should be trampled on by the unions. But I am always on the side of justice. However, if we don't know exactly where the truth is, everybody loses out."

Levering resident Robert Keil, 66, said his perspective on labor issues is "very conservative and of the old school."

"Professionals such as teachers and nurses should never strike under any circumstances," the retired attorney said. "They should stay at the bargaining table and hammer out a settlement of their differences.

"If you do strike, you aren't a professional."

To Keil, "unions have simply become too powerful, in my opinion, and exert too much influence over our daily activities."