Staff at the Australian National University walked off the job on Thursday afternoon as they called for a limit on the number of casual workers as part of the next enterprise agreement.
National Tertiary Education Union ANU branch president Millan Pintos-Lopez said casual staff did not have access to benefits enjoyed by permanent staff, including sick leave, parental leave, long service leave and gender affirmation leave.
"I'm hoping to see a commitment from the ANU to reduce the reliance on casual staff," he said.
"I'm hoping to see the creation of a significant amount of new jobs that are open for casual staff to apply for to increase their access to job security.
"I'm hoping to see better superannuation contributions for casual staff."
The National Tertiary Education Union has been in negotiations with the university since mid-2022.
The university gave a revised pay offer of 18.5 per cent over five years last week, but the union decided to proceed with the first strike in 24 years over casual employees' lack of job security.
Staff received a 3.5 per cent pay increase in February this year. The revised pay offer includes a 2.5 per cent increase in December followed by a 2.5 per cent increase twice a year to June 2026.
Progress has been made on claims around flexible work arrangements, gender affirmation leave and workload.
Mr Pintos-Lopez said staff were frustrated that negotiations were dragging on a year after they submitted claims but confident that the strike would lead to an agreement.
Vice-chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt said he was optimistic that an agreement would be reached soon.
"ANU is committed to our staff - our staff are a big part of what makes us a world class university," Prof Schmidt said.
"Casual employment is an issue we've been working on for some time. We are continuing to make progress on sector-leading arrangements and security for our casual employees.
"We want to be the best place in Australia to work, and I'm looking forward to an agreement that reaffirms that position."
Crowds of staff, students and unionists rallied at Kambri then marched to the Chancelry.
The union has planned a two-day strike for August 7 and 8 if an agreement is not reached.
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