A number of CUNY professors were arrested Wednesday at a rally over a union contract.
More than 300 faculty and staff attended the rally in Midtown demanding a fair offer for a contract since the last one expired five years ago.
Things escalated when some protesters blocked the door to the building that's home to CUNY’s central administration.
The union says the offer negotiators made earlier in the day was inadequate.
Salaries have remained the same for six years now and is something professors say not only affects them, but their students' learning environment.
"CUNY is there to give a quality education to students who probably wouldn't otherwise be able to afford to go to university. And we want to make sure that our professors are taken care of, that our staff is taken care of."
"We have adjuncts who are on food stamps. We have members who cannot make the rent."
"We are looking for raises that will help us keep the excellent faculty that we have and help us attract more faculty to this university."
There are about 500,000 students in the CUNY system.