The nurses went on strike to protest

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



THE PROMPT


• Best strategy?
→ Eliminate the four worst answers by asking, "What are the nurses protesting?"

Try to simplify.
The infinitive, to protest, which implies in order to protest, is followed by an object in every option.
That object that tells us what they are protesting.
The object of the infinitive to protest is the thing they do not like.
In four of the sentences, the object—what they are protesting—is not logical.

• meaning?

→ The nurses went on strike to protest the fact that they are being overworked by their bosses.
The nurses went on strike to protest a condition imposed upon them.
They did not choose this condition.

Nonetheless, whose condition is this? Who is suffering in the state of affairs in which nurses are overworked?
This condition of being overworked "belongs" to the nurses.
Being overworked is their (the nurses') condition.

The nurses did not go on strike to protest themselves.
The nurses did not go on strike to protest the nurses.
The nurses went on strike to protest their condition—namely, that of being overworked.

THE OPTIONS


• I do not see any errors
• The passive construction is effective
→ The nurses are being overworked by someone else.
→ Whose condition is this "being overworked"? Who endures this condition? The nurses.
The condition of being overworked "belongs" to the nurses, so the word their is appropriate.
KEEP A

• Illogical and nonsensical meaning
→ The nurses did not go on strike to protest themselves.
ELIMINATE B


• Illogical and nonsensical meaning
→ The nurses did not go on strike to protest themselves.
ELIMINATE C


• Illogical meaning
→ The nurses did not choose this state of affairs. The nurses did not choose "overworking."
Their overworking makes it sound as if the overworking belongs to the nurses, as if they chose this overworking.
By contrast, in option A, their being overworked makes it clear that the condition of being overworked belongs to the nurses but that they did not choose it and are being acted upon by someone else.

This option is not as clear as option A about the fact that the nurses are being overworked by someone else—a state of affairs that the nurses dislike.
ELIMINATE D

• Illogical meaning
→ The nurses did not choose to overwork themselves.
What, the nurses chose to overwork themselves and then go on strike to protest their choice?
That logic does not hold up.
The logic of going on strike to protest implies strong objection to something that someone else imposed upon the protesters.
ELIMINATE E

The best answer is A.

Notes

I recall having seen at least three official questions whose correct answers included a possessive noun or pronoun before a gerund, and in all three cases, the other four answers contained serious meaning or grammar errors.

SPOILER ALERT (if you click the link) I can only recall one such official question at the moment, which you can find here.

That official question involves the active voice construction, such as that used when U.S. news anchors say to guests, "I appreciate your coming on the show." (Not, "I appreciate you coming on the show." )

You can read a little bit about possessive nouns and pronouns that precede gerunds in this article, here.

Don't get too caught up in the grammar.
I would bet that 95-99 percent of native speakers do not know the rules or use the correct construction.
When I use this construction in speech, it sounds jarring to native speakers.
But in formal writing, the construction is still required.

In short, I want you to know that this kind of phrasing exists.
Most of the time on the GMAT, an option that contains possessive noun + gerund is not correct.
On a few occasions such an option has been correct, and if I recall correctly, you just have to be willing to rely on POE and to recognize that this construction is a thing.

COMMENTS

I figure that anyone who was brave enough to attempt an answer deserves kudos.

Bravery is good.
I don't care how smart you are: no one learns without making mistakes. A lot of them.

What do you have to lose by posting an answer?
It's not as if I subtract kudos, after all.

As always, I repeat the standing invitation to all aspirants to post.

To those of you who reasoned to the right answer: especially well done.
Stay safe, everyone.