PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- University of Pittsburgh graduate students say their fight to unionize with the United Steelworkers has been a long time coming.

Student workers voted on Friday overwhelmingly in favor of joining the union.

There were many smiles and happy tears on Friday as the votes were tallied, with 1,033 graduate students voting in favor of unionizing against 28 voting no.

"To actually hear every vote be counted was really awesome and really powerful," Caroline Layding, a second-year PhD student and teaching assistant, said.

"To be there for such a landslide win after such a devastating loss in 2019 was, I think, a real tribute to the amazing foundation that was laid for us by many, many graduate worker organizers from, you know, almost a decade ago to now," Alison Mahoney said.

Mahoney got involved in 2020 with the graduate workers' organizing committee, fighting to have a voice on workplace safety, stipend increases, and better healthcare.

"When I first started at Pitt, we had pretty comprehensive health insurance, and out of nowhere, at the beginning of last academic year, with no real announcement or warning, we were told that our co-pays were going up between 500-600%," Mahoney said.

Mahoney says that change catalyzed even more people to get involved.

"I think that was what made people realize, you know, if we had had a union, they wouldn't have been able to just do that without telling us," Layding said.

It's a fight that's been pursued for years, and narrowly missed in 2019, but grad students say they weren't giving up.

"I think the vast majority of us clearly think that our work is worth the amount of money that students pay for it, and right now, that's not something that we're seeing," Mahoney said.

After a landslide win on Friday, grad workers say they're preparing to bargain their first contract with Pitt's administration.

In a statement, the university promised to come to the table in good faith.