A group of Penn State graduate students and employees rallied for support on the steps of Old Main Wednesday afternoon.

They’re kicking off their campaign to unionize university graduate employees.

The rally’s theme was “Our Voice Counts”. The group is fighting for better pay, benefits and work conditions.

“We want to be on the table with administration,” PhD Candidate and Grad Assistant, Mehmet Doke, said. “We want to have a say in the decisions that will basically change our living conditions, our working conditions, our income, healthcare, all of those things.”

Their efforts to unionize started in 2014 when the university’s healthcare policies changed. Now, their goal is to collect enough authorization cards for an election. They hope that will happen within the next year.