Dispute centres on pay, job security, and AI-related concerns
Thousands of staff members at the University of Sydney will go on strike for 24 hours on Wednesday, 2 September, amid "deadlocks" at the negotiation table over AI protections and job security.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) New South Wales division said the strike will see picket lines starting in the morning, with a rally to be carried out later in the day.
"As members, we don't take the decision to strike lightly," the NTEU NSW said on its website.
"There are deadlocks at the table. Management won't budge on AI protections, equal redundancy pay for professional staff and no forced redundancies, and want to introduce new categories of employment that will destroy the teaching-research nexus and are dead ends career-wise. They also want to introduce change management provision that reduces their obligations to genuinely consult."
NTEU's demands
Among the union's demands include a salary increase of 20% over three years, 17% superannuation for casual workers, as well as higher severance pay for professional staff to match those for academics, the Australian Financial Review reported.
But NTEU NSW division secretary Vince Caughley told the NewsWire that the "heart" of the dispute is about job security in the wake of disappearing positions amid years of restructures, casualisation, and cost-cutting.
"Now management is rushing headlong into AI, something its own Green Paper describes as one of the most consequential transformations in the history of higher education, without the evidence, consultation, or due diligence a change of that magnitude demands," Caughley told NewsWire.
According to reports, the union is demanding "significant AI-driven workplace change" to be subject to provisions in the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA).
It is also asking that staff be consulted on more "trivial" developments, training to be given to staff when new AI systems are introduced, as well as a ban on automated systems without human oversight, according to the AFR report.
"We are shit-scared of 10 years from now looking back and feeling like collectively we didn't do enough to protect the public good and centuries of universities," Caughley said in a statement.
"We've seen the last few weeks, the introduction of AI avatars in teaching. You remove academics, slowly but surely, there's every reason to ask: what makes a university?"
University of Sydney's response
The University of Sydney called the NTEU's strike "premature," but maintained that it will not influence its negotiations with the union.
"However, we support the right of union members to take protected industrial action and we're continuing to engage at the bargaining table, from where our agreement will be driven," a spokesperson from the university said in a statement to the media.
On its approach to AI, the university agreed that using AI ethically requires a human-centred approach, pointing out that this is a key value in its Responsible AI Framework, principles, and guardrails.
"AI is undeniably changing the modern workforce and we consider it our responsibility to make sure our staff have the opportunities and capabilities they need to drive our research, education and operations and to ensure our students and graduates have the capabilities they need for the workplaces of the future," the spokesperson added.
The University of Sydney has already advised students and staff to stay off campus on Wednesday, adding that it expects the majority of its teaching staff to hold classes online to minimise disruption.
Building access will also be restricted, with ID requirements for students and staff. Some labs and other activities may also be cancelled if they cannot be done remotely.
