(Updates with end of hunger strike, quote)

By Marynia Kruk

WARSAW, June 26 (Reuters) - Protesting Polish nurses called off a one-day-old hunger strike on Tuesday after meeting the prime minister to press their pay demands, but said they would continue work stoppages and demonstrations.

Hundreds of hospitals have been affected by the strike, but conservative Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has said meeting the wage demands of doctors and nurses would lead to the collapse of public finances.

Kaczynski held talks on Tuesday with four nurses who had barricaded themselves in one room of his offices for a week. They left after the meeting, greeted by cheers from supporters, but no deal was reached.

"Negotiations will continue, but the hunger strike has ended," said Longina Kaczmarska, the deputy leader of a nurses' union.

State medical workers say they have been left behind while salaries for other professionals have risen rapidly since Poland joined the European Union in 2004, triggering an economic boom and emigration that has increased the demand for labour.

Doctors and nurses also want reforms to hospitals that have changed little since the end of communist rule.

Around 200 nurses have set up camp outside the prime minister's office, but the protest has not disrupted work there.

Kaczynski has insisted his government will not back down.

The government has offered a pay rise of 15 percent per year over three years, but nurses argue their wages were low to start with. Economists say another wage rise could trigger demands from other sectors and lead to a budget crisis. (Additional reporting by Natalia Reiter)

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