Around 100 people gathered outside University Medical Center on Wednesday morning for the second day of a three-day strike called by the hospital’s nurse union, the fifth walkout by a portion of the hospital's nursing staff since they voted to organize almost two years ago.

Music blared from speakers and a bubble machine sent soapy spheres into the crowd of marching demonstrators, who carried signs and chanted. The striking nurses, part of a 600-member unit represented by National Nurses United, have been negotiating for over a year with the hospital, which is operated by LCMC Health.

The bargaining committee and the hospital meet twice a month, and both sides on Wednesday said there was a lack of progress in the negotiations.

“I would love to wrap it up tomorrow,” said Hailey Dupre, an

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