Graduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, were arrested during a protest to demand higher wages. A group of protesters allegedly stood in the middle of an intersection and blocked traffic before being arrested by local police officers.

According to a report by Campus Reform, 17 students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, were arrested after allegedly blocking traffic in an intersection near campus. The protesters engaged in the demonstration to bring attention to their efforts to raise wages for graduate students employed as teaching assistants at the university.

The students are facing a variety of charges including unlawful assembly, obstructing a public roadway, and disobeying a lawful order.

In a comment, UC spokesman Scott Hernandez-Jason said that the students were given many chances by the officers to move from the road before they were arrested.

“Officers repeatedly tried to de-escalate the situation and made clear that blocking this major roadway had to stop or it would lead to arrest,” Hernandez-Jason said. “Demonstrators locked arms, sat in the roadway, and refused to move back onto the university field.

The protest effort started back in December when graduate students refused to submit fall semester grades until they received a $1,400 per month raise. Prior to the protests, graduate students acting as teaching assistants at the University of California, Santa Cruz, earned $2,400 per month.

The CBS affiliate for the San Francisco area posted a video of the protest on YouTube. The video shows protesters squaring off against officers.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more campus updates.