I am a sociologist and senior lecturer in the Sydney School of Health Sciences who knows what it’s like to be a casual teacher, then lurch for years between fixed-term contracts, as a parent and mortgagee.
A committed unionist, I have advocated for better working conditions, been on the NTEU cases committee, lobbied the University and UniSuper to divest from fossil fuels and am a veteran picket captain of nine strikes. I have advocated for staff and students living with disability in Disability Action Plan committees, the Disability at Work Network and NTEU Disability Rights Group. I will always advocate for social and environmental justice.
As part of Rank and File Action, I was a grassroots campaigner throughout the 2022-23 strikes. That long and strong campaign won many workplace rights that push back on the punitive workloads, precarious work, wage theft and false efficiencies of our corporatised university, but only when members enforce them. I look forward to continuing to work with NTEU members to enforce all our hard-won EBA clauses.
I’m a casual academic in Architecture, Design and Planning, and I’m running for Branch Committee Member (Casual Employees). I’ve been active in the NTEU and USyd Casuals Network since 2020, and I’m currently on Branch Committee. I’m proud to be part of the first Branch in Australia to pass a boycott motion in solidarity with Palestine.
There is a crisis of casualisation at Sydney. As a long-term casual I’m painfully aware of the effects of casualisation on every aspect of our working lives. As such, I’ve been active in building campaigns against poor working conditions, wage theft, and ongoing precarity.
Most recently, casuals are facing Management’s non-compliance with the Enterprise Agreement such as the violation of EA-mandated casual marking rates. Moreover, the University’s “commitment” to decasualisation via EA-330 roles has proved to be disingenuous, due to the disadvantageous eligibility criteria, and the limited roles available.
To fight these, and other attacks on casuals, we need more member-led unionism from below. As we move towards the 2026 bargaining round, I’m committed to working with others to take strong, collective action to decasualise the campus and create genuine pathways to secure jobs.
Markela Panegyres, candidate for Branch Committee Member (casual employees)
Real union business means standing up for Palestine and standing alongside social movements, just as much as it is campaigning for better wages and conditions. I’m proud that our branch is committed to grassroots campaigning.
I’m a casual academic in FASS / Political Economy, where I’ve taught for six years, and I’m a current National Councillor for the Sydney University branch. I’ve been on the pickets and organised for our strikes. I’m also a member of the Greens NSW, where I’ve acted as a campaign committee convenor, preselection returning officer, and all-around policy nerd.
The work of our union depends on a strong organisational infrastructure, which is central to the Secretary’s duties. Here’s some of what I want to advance:
Mapping membership density across the University so we know where to build membership and campaigns
Introducing new members’ inductions to build our collective campaigning capacity (and so people know how to access union functions!)
Developing local area networks so that we have a strong grassroots base for enforcing our current agreement and organising towards our next EBA campaign
I’m a member of Rank and File Action (RAFA). For more on how to vote for us, see: http://rafausyd.com
Riki Scanlan, candidate for NTEU Secretary, University of Sydney Branch, and national councillor
My name is David Brophy. I’m an academic in History and have been a member of the NTEU since getting my first job in 2011. I joined the Branch Committee soon after coming to Sydney in 2013 and have been on it—with one interlude—ever since. The NTEU is one of the best things about working here. The values our union embodies—mutual support and democracy—are things that Sydney University needs much more of.
David Brophy, Nick Riemer, candidate for NTEU President, University of Sydney branch
I’ve been active in three industrial campaigns at Sydney, which means I’ve helped organise strikes, run picket lines, spoken at rallies etc. I joined the bargaining team in the latter half of the most recent EA campaign, and quickly got an education in detailed, face-to-face industrial negotiations with the corporate law-firm we were up against. No EA is perfect (I was among those arguing to keep fighting), but we achieved a lot in that 2022-23 campaign: we saved important conditions and won gains of national significance. A major focus of my term as president will be to coordinate the collective development of our next log of claims and get the branch ready to take industrial action when bargaining opens again in June 2026.
I’m currently the branch’s vice-president for academic staff, so I’ve had a close-up view of what the president’s role involves. It’s a big job, not something I take on lightly. There are spot fires breaking out across the university all the time – excessive workloads, bullying, mistreatment of casualized staff, and a corporate management style that prefers staff to be seen but not heard. Much of our new EA still needs to be enforced, with the University held to account on questions like Indigenous employment. We will need to strongly resist any new punitive measures that accompany the Academic Excellence Framework, and be prepared for the possibility that the VC may use the window between bargaining to launch further such attacks.
Nick Riemer is leaving big shoes to fill. Our branch has a strong democratic culture that we need to value and develop. Our lively all-in members meetings put decision-making where it should be—in the hands of ordinary members. But just as important are good communications, ongoing recruitment, smaller local meetings, and the fostering of workplace activism. Developing our confidence to kick up a fuss wherever we are, whenever we feel it’s necessary, is the way we’ll build a successful union.
Finally, a note on Palestine. I’ve long been a supporter of Palestinian rights, and an advocate of the boycott of Israeli institutions. Our colleagues in Gaza need meaningful action from us, and I will look for ways to implement and build on the solidarity resolution we have adopted as a branch. The current upsurge of support for Palestine has also raised important issues of intellectual freedom and free speech on campus, which our union must remain vigilant on.
I want the Sydney University NTEU to be a place where we can discuss and debate all kinds of issues arising at the local, national, and international levels. The AUKUS pact and the militarization of higher education also require a response from the NTEU.
I’m running in this election with a ticket called Rank and File Action. It’s an alliance of activists of various left persuasions that came together during our last industrial campaign. Personally, I’d describe myself as an independent socialist, who puts most of their political energy into union work. RAFA has a vision of radical, grassroots unionism, but always seeks to build as much unity as possible. That sums up how I intend to approach this job.
Rank-And-File Action USYD 