NYU Langone Health reportedly rehired nine nurses earlier this month after an arbitrator asserted that it had wrongfully terminated them in 2022, when the medical center claimed that the nurses failed to help a patient who gave birth in a hallway.

The nurse's union accused NYU Langone of focusing more on its “glossy public image” than its nurses, citing spending on a recent 30-second Super Bowl ad.

A union spokesperson said the Brooklyn hospital routinely violates the minimum nurse-to-patient ratio.

Righi said that the union is seeking to increase pay so that the hospital can recruit and retain nurses and address understaffing concerns. Nurses at NYU Langone’s Brooklyn hospital make a minimum of $10,000 less than surrounding peer hospitals, Righi said, though he declined to name which hospitals pay higher salaries.

NYU Langone Hospital nurses in Brooklyn may strike on March 1st over demands for higher pay and improved staffing, with 8,000 staffing grievances filed over the past three years.