Our union must advance casuals’ rights, be led by our membership, and champion solidarity with Palestine.
I’ve been a casual researcher and academic at USyd and an NTEU member since 2018, working in FMH, FASS and the Business School. I’m an active member in my workplace, which is currently the Pharmacy PhD shared office, where I work on my PhD. I’ve recruited several members, some through difficult, long and always respectful conversations. I’ve been involved in casuals’ rights activism at USyd for several years, contributing to the worker inquiry in 2020-21 that exposed wage theft in FASS. I was involved in the 2022-23 strike campaign, from handing out fliers to my role as picket captain alongside Finola Laughren and Sophie Cotton.
My unionism is informed (in part) by three principles:
1. Casuals’ rights. We are systematically exploited; we must be paid for the work we do.
2. Democracy. The voice of rank-and-file members is the most important factor in decisions made by the branch. We are the union.
3. Palestine solidarity. I proudly voted in favour of the institutional boycott of Israeli universities. We must work to enact this.
Rank-And-File Action USYD 