 Start at the University of Sydney successfully held the first day of their two-day strike on Wednesday. The teaching staff walked off the job and formed picket lines outside campus entrances. They were joined by the students as well. The striking staff received widespread support as most other staff and students did not cross the picket line, resulting in an empty campus and most classes being cancelled. The National Tertiary Education Union or NDEU issued the call for this strike demanding secure jobs for the staff and better working conditions. They have been trying to negotiate a new agreement with the university since August last year. The union said they were not happy about disrupting studies but were forced to take this step as the university management was refusing to concede on important work rights. I'm going on strike because our working conditions, our students learning conditions. I'm going on strike because all of us at this university have been working incredibly hard even outside of the pandemic and we deserve a fair pay rise. I'm going on strike to end wage theft and to stop the exploitation of casual staff. I'm going on strike for academic staff's right to research time so students learn from knowledge creators. I'm striking because management constantly restructures first, ask questions later and that results in out of control workloads. The union said that while some progress had been made the university management was refusing to engage on the most important demands. These demands are an end to forced redundancies, enforceable controls on workload for all staff, preservation of the right to a 40% research component in academic workloads, an end to exploitative long-term casualization, recognition and improvement of work from home rights for professional staff, an end to disruptive change management and performance review practices, enforceable targets for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment and fair pay rises. The Sydney Conservatorium of Music also joined the protest. Dr. James Humberstone, senior lecturer at the university said this was the first time the traditionally conservative institute had formed ticket lines. He stated that a large number of people had turned out in support of the strike because of the increasingly capitalized workforce. The number of people working here insecurely from semester to semester with no route to permanent employment has gone up, he said. On April 28th, at an NTEU meeting, members of the union voted to start an industrial campaign beginning with this strike. The union has said that if progress is not made in negotiations, the members would organize another strike and pickets on May 24th, just before the conciliation week. This action would be focused on First Nation's employment rights.