NIU employees, in an effort to bring attention to unfair wages, will picket today at 3 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Free Speech Area, outside the Holmes Student Center.

The picket line will be made up of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The members are protesting the unfair wages of 26 employees who are custodians and employees at the Lorado Taft field campus.

Kay Argo, AFSCME staff representative said in a prepared statement, “Northern is the second largest public university in the state, but these employees are paid third-rate wages.”

The picket line is for purely informational reasons, said Steve Trossman, AFSCME public relations director. He said about 50 members were expected for the picket line.

Trossman said the demonstration is to draw attention to the difference in wages compared with other universities. He said it was premature to talk about a strike and that the union was keeping all their options open.

“The university is paying equity adjustments to other nonunion employees whose salaries have fallen far below acceptable levels, and we are demanding the same for the union job titles that we’ve identified,” Argo said.

Trossman said he was unsure about the present status of the union’s contract with NIU, but that the union does want to renegotiate.