University clerical employees picketed outside Henry Administration Building during their lunch hour Tuesday to raise support for a favorable contract with the administration.

Dorinda Miller, president of American Federation of State and County Municipal Employees local 3700, said the union wanted to garner support in upcoming mediated negotiations with the University. The union also wanted to welcome incoming University President B. Joseph White to campus, she said.

The union is working on a new contract with the University. The last contract between the union and the University expired last August.

Miller said the University’s proposal for a new contract includes cuts in periodic salary raises for union members.

“We just think the University needs to set their priorities for workers,” Miller said. “There’s plenty of money for administrators, and they need to remember those who work for those administrators.”

University spokeswoman Robin Kaler said the administration has made a contract proposal that includes longevity increases of about 4 percent. Another administration proposal would give workers an across-the-board pay raise.

Kaler said that in the wake of funding cuts from the state of Illinois, the union’s proposed contract is too expensive for the University to agree to it. She also said if the union’s proposed pay scale is approved, they will benefit disproportionally to other University staff.

“We’re trying to distribute (the University’s money) fairly,” Kaler said.

The two sides will meet with a federal mediator tomorrow. Both Miller and Kaler expressed confidence that a deal could be reached.