CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- About 20 University of Miami students ended a more than 12-hour sit-in on the Coral Gables campus early Wednesday morning after university officials agreed to several demands regarding campus janitors who are striking.

UM President Donna Shalala walked out of the Ashe Administration Building around 1:30 a.m. to the sounds of cheers by protesters.

University officials said they would hold a meeting within 48 hours with representatives from different labor, student and faculty groups to discuss whether Unicco Service employees want the option to have union representation.

During the hours of negotiations on behalf of the university janitors who have been on strike for several weeks, protesters blocked the entrance to the building and held a vigil.

Shalala and the board of trustees voted earlier this month to raise the minimum wages of its contract employees, including striking janitors and groundskeepers, by at least 25 percent.

The current hourly base pay is $6.40. The new hourly minimum will be $8 for food service workers; $8.55 for housekeepers; and $9.30 for landscapers.

Compensation will also be adjusted for years on the job and merit. In addition, health care benefits will also be offered.

But the workers continued to strike for union representation.

"This university cannot function without these janitors," protester Linda Belgrave said. "All labor has value. These people deserve a living wage, they deserve health care and they deserve being able to negotiate on their own behalf."

At a separate protest Tuesday, Coral Gables police arrested 17 people who blocked an intersection in support of the janitors.

The sit-in ended with the university releasing a statement saying it would encourage Unicco and the Service Employees International Union to reach an agreement, and would not tolerate intimidation or coercion of workers.