SYRACUSE, NY — Dozens of Syracuse University workers gathered on Monday with the message that the campus cannot function without them and that they want to be fairly compensated for their work.

Food service workers, janitors and library technicians banded together after their union, SEIU Local 200United, rejected a recent university contract offer that included a 2.5 percent pay raise. Union leaders rejected the offer, saying the raise was not nearly enough to cover living expenses.

Speakers at the rally talked about having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet and said the university’s offerings do not even come close to keeping up with inflation.

To make their point, union members gathered at 727 Comstock Avenue, a historic Greek housing building that the university purchased for over $3 million.

“It really hurts when people are trying to figure out how to get out of Wegmans and pay for their families, how to try to put gas in their car, how to get here and do a good job. Many of our members have second jobs, and then you see the university making decisions like this,” Schott Phillipson, president of SEIU Local 200United, said of the university’s purchase of the property.

There is currently no strike – the arbitration is expected to last until the beginning of September.

“We hope the university will return to negotiations in the next two sessions. People simply cannot take care of their families the way they want and need to.”