A 10-day strike notice was announced Friday by the Teamsters Local 776 negotiating committee, which could result in a staff walkout at the Hershey Medical Center.

The announcement takes effect a week from today, and the earliest a strike can start is midnight next Tuesday said Gary Young, a member of the Teamsters Local 776 negotiating committee.

If an agreement is not reached by the end of the 10 days, it is likely that 600 of the medical center's 5,600 employees will strike, said Amy Buehler Stranges, a spokeswoman for the medical center.

The impact of a possible strike on Penn State students working at the medical center is minimal, Young said. However, students may have to work more hours at a time and cover longer shifts to make up for the loss, he added.

The teamsters made a counter proposal Thursday, but representatives from the medical center refused to review it, Young said.

The proposal entailed a request for three sick days a year that would not be taken out of the employees vacation time, Young added.

"The medical center considers this is the final offer and no further negotiating will happen," Buehler Stranges said.

"We think this is a fair and reasonable offer, but everything is really up in the air."

The union would like to regain some of the benefits that were lost when the 1997 merger with Geisinger Health System failed, said Joel Edmunds, group union leader for the carpenters at the medical center.

"It is a case where there are a few small issues that need to be addressed," Edmunds said. "We're still trying to sort this mess out six years later." The lack of sick leave, vacation time and health benefits are reasons fueling the possible strike, Edmunds said. "If push comes to shove there will be 600 people with picket signs in front of the building," Young said. "And these will be very angry people."