After The University of Missouri's annual State of the University address Wednesday, some MU employees said they were disappointed by the address.
"The improvements are all very important," Luke Fennewald, a union organizer at LiUNA Local 955, said. "But it doesn't mean anything if the people working on this campus can't afford to live."
The local labor union represents some MU staff and faculty.
On Wednesday afternoon, the union held a conference stating their demands from the university outside of Jesse Hall.
The workers' issues include MU's new staff attendance policy, its new parking model and wages.
The union's main concern with the new disciplinary policy for attendance is that it is a non-fault policy: regardless of the reason why a worker is late without an approved notice, they will receive an occurrence.
The university also introduced a new parking model that is demand-based, instead of its previous salary-based one.
The new model creates an increase in fees for parking lots close to the university, which lots of workers said they cannot afford.
The new model also proposes shuttle buses for those who cannot commute, but the union says there is not enough city staff to implement this.
Lastly, the union also disapproves of workers' current wages.
One custodian for MU, Cathy Persinger, who is the sole provider for her family, said she had to move out of Columbia, as she couldn't afford to live there with her current pay.
"I only make about $1,000 every two weeks," Persinger said.
Persinger said she has to be decisive about what she buys with each pay check.
The union has demanded change for over a year now and plans on meeting with the university next month to bargain again.
