ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Hundreds of graduate students with the University of Rochester are banding together in an effort to unionize. Among the top priorities for these 1,700 grad students: fair wages. Their goal is to help allow the university maintain its prestigious status, while supporting what they describe as fundamentals to succeed on campus. "I know a lot of people who take second jobs, so if you don't have to work a second job you can obviously focus more on your research, and having a sense of financial security lowers your stress level overall, makes it easier to focus and function as a person," said mechanical engineering Ph.D student Keelin Quirk. "Our hope is the administration will see the support we have and take our position seriously. Let us build the union we want to build, which has as many graduate workers as possible involved, and also clear up whatever's been going on with these raises. It's been a huge source of confusion on campus. Hundreds of people who normally get raises had them denied and then it was walked back." In part of a statement, a spokesperson for the university says the school remains committed to reaching an agreement on entering a private election, and "creating an environment where the opinions voice and ideas of all Ph.D students are given consideration." Negotiations began six months ago, but some students claim the university is pushing for an agreement to exclude hundreds of grad student workers in the process. The students plan to officially file for a union election in the spring semester.