More than one hundred nurses from the Westchester Medical Center hit the picket line Saturday to protest the breakdown of contract negotiations.

The nurses protested outside a black tie fundraiser gala held at the hospital. They were equipped with whistles, clappers and horns.

They say more than 1,300 registered nurses at the medical center have been working without a contract for over a year. They want the pensions and health care benefits they say they deserve.

?It?s our ball and we attended it in the past and it makes us all sad we're here having to do this. We have to show we're unified?you have to remember some are still working and they still came here.? Diane Dodaro-Surrusco said.

Nurses at the hospital say they're most concerned about the cut in their pensions and health care benefits. They say the coverage they're being offered now won?t cut it.

While some disapproved of their decision to protest during the gala, they said they understood why the nurses came out to make such a racket.

A spokesman for Westchester Medical Center said in a statement, "While negotiations are continuing, the hospital is working collaboratively with the nurses union."

Representatives of the nurses union said they will protest the medical center's 30th anniversary picnic on June 20th.