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About 60 people formed a picket line outside the Crisler Center during the University of Michigan\u2019s Winter Commencement ceremony<\/a> Sunday afternoon. Protestors carried homemade signs next to an inflatable Grinch<\/a> they set up meant to criticize the University\u2019s greed. University Staff United<\/a>, a University-wide union of non-supervisory staff members, organized the event to demand better pay while it negotiates its first contract with the University. These employees include residential life associates, financial aid officers, counseling psychologists and audio-visual technicians.<\/p>\n USU claims<\/a> the University\u2019s best offer included a 3% year-over-year pay increase for employees working on the Ann Arbor campus, but only a 1% yearly increase for workers on the University\u2019s Dearborn and Flint campuses. In the United States, the average inflation rate<\/a> was 2.9% in 2024, meaning the cost of living is rising faster than the proposed salaries of U-M Dearborn and U-M Flint employees.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Michigan Daily, USU president Nathan Sadowsky, academic program manager for the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said the union \u2014 which the University first recognized<\/a> in February \u2014 has made gains in preventing artificial intelligence from replacing employees but is now focused on staff compensation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve made a lot of progress,\u201d Sadowsky said. \u201cWe\u2019ve resolved all of the non-economic issues, but they\u2019ve currently offered us a salary offer that our members just feel is not acceptable, and we\u2019re protesting here for them to come back and offer something that provides real, meaningful raises for everyone and living wages for those of the lowest salaries.\u201d<\/p>\n