Residents and fellows at the University of Maryland Medical Center believe they have the votes to form a union.

More than 900 employees are voting this week on whether to join the American Federation of Teachers-Maryland.

Voting ends on Thursday at 8 p.m.

Residents and fellows are fresh out of medical school and working as doctors, often in a learning capacity. However, they are often stuck with long hours and low pay.

Andrew Gilmore, a fellow in pulmonary and critical care at UMMC, said the yearly pay at UMMC for first-year residents is $63,000. Sometimes residents work 24 hour shifts as well.

Gilmore said if the union is formed the residents will push for childcare benefits, more pay and more breaks for sleep.

“Oftentimes, when we have these extraordinary long work hours, in some cases, we're not able to provide the best patient care all the time,” Gilmore said. “Our goal is to create a new contract that is beneficial for everybody.”

Residents across the country are starting to bargain for more rights.

New doctors in Detroit, Boston, New York and Washington D.C. have all voted to unionize in the past several months.

If the residents vote to form the union they will then go on to finalize their status with the National Labor Relations Board. Then, they can begin bargaining with management.