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One-hundred and fifty unionized employees at Northern Illinois University (NIU) rallied around the university’s administrative building on Monday to protest a 3% wage increase that was implemented by the administration without standard bargaining procedure. A representative from AFSCME said that NIU offered to implement the wage increase in the same way they would for non-unionized employees, but only if the unions forego their right to negotiate for retroactive pay and future pay for the coming year. NIU has a track record of failing to bargain in good faith, and last year the union filed a complaint with the NLRB after the university increased parking fees before negotiations that partially dealt with the elimination of parking fees had been settled. The three-percent wage increase is the first raise in seven years for NIU’s para-professionals, and will still not bring compensation to the same level as other schools in the area. Protesters carried signs that showed the wages paid by universities across the state, with the highest being Northeastern which offers $13.54 to its clerks, while NIU only pays $9.78.