Thousands of local union members gathered outside John Hancock Hall Tuesday evening to protest stalled contract negotiations as Mayor Thomas Menino delivered his annual State of the City address.

Firefighters, teachers, bus drivers and other union members gathered in the cold, holding signs which read slogans like “Contracts Now” and “We Deserve Respect.”

“We are hoping to get a contract with good benefits and halfway decent money to live on,” said Lisa Hodges of the Service Employees International Union. “We have tried media and pushed advertisements and commercials. Hopefully this will get the message through.”

Many protesters said they have felt the effects of living without a contract.

“I want the city and the mayor to negotiate with city employees,” said a member of the executive board of the firefighter’s union who wished to remain anonymous.

“There are 32 city unions and everyone is without a contract, some for over a year and a half now,” the union leader said. “We have been without a contract for over six months now. We would like them to come down to the bargaining table in good faith.”

Many protestors said Menino has been spending money on the upcoming Democratic National Convention at the expense of local unions.

“If Mayor Menino can have money to fund the Democratic convention, then he can give us a measly 3 percent raise,” said Bruce Anderson of the Boston Teachers Union.

Yet others wanted to go even further than just picketing the mayor’s speech. Al Smith, a member of the Teachers union, passed out flyers to initiate a general strike.

“We got 32 unions here,” Smith said. “We need a general strike. We need to shut down the entire state. All the money is going to the war. Teachers can’t do it, and firefighters can’t do it. We have to go on the offensive, we got to organize more people. We can’t deal with usual unionism.”

Treasurer of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO Kathy Casavant spoke at the protest and demanded respect for all the local unions by leading the chant, “Mayor Menino, are you listening?”

“Mayor Menino, I ask you, respect the workers of the City of Boston,” Casavant told the crowd of protestors. “Respect the work that they do. Sit down and embark on a fair and equitable contract today.”

Boston Teachers Union President Richard Stutman praised the union members who braved the cold for the protest.

“This is a historic event, we are all here united as a coalition,” he said. “You are the backbone of the city, and you make it work but we have all been shortchanged.”

Service Employees International Union local 888 President Susana Segat spoke on behalf of union’s 2,500 members in Boston, saying they have had problems paying for basic necessities such as food and heat.

“The city talks about unreasonable workers who want high raises,” Segat said. “What they don’t say is that many low-wage workers in Boston have to choose between heat and groceries, between electricity and the rent, between a roof and a meal.”

Many of the union members promised to picket the Democratic National Convention this summer if Menino’s policies do not change soon.

“This is not about money, it is about fairness,” Segat said. “We are asking them to treat all workers equitably.”

The union leaders were optimistic about the turnout but conceded that the battle will be an uphill one.

“We are tired of waiting,” Stutman said. “We deserve respect and to be paid for what we do.”