Quebec strike spreads, but accord may be near

A six-day-old strike by Quebec government workers fighting a 20 percent pay cut spread to hospitals Monday, but the government said it had agreed on a framework for settlement.

In a two-sentence statement, the government said it felt the agreement reached after talks with the hospital workers' union was acceptable, although it gave no details. Officials from other striking unions said the agreement could be extended to cover all 200,000 government workers due to go out on strike today (Feb. 1).