Cats like milk in this sentence milk is a noun but why is milk a noun in this sentence

Westridge, ohio — more than 600 transportation employees went on strike at midnight last night after the westridge city council rejected their demand for a 10% pay increase. the strike affects all bus and rail services throughout westridge and the neighboring communities of turlock, smithfield, and lowell grove. "we hoped we would not be forced to strike, but until our demands are met, we really have no choice," said wanda thompson, a representative of the transportation employees union. "we simply don't get paid what we deserve." members of the westridge city council see the situation differently. "our employees already earn 6% more than the state average for similar transportation jobs," said raoul cobian, president of the westridge city council. hopefully the two groups can come to an agreement soon and bring this unnecessary strike to an end. what is the common name for the underlined information in the article?