Dear Students,
On Wednesday the 11th and Thursday the 12th of May, members of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) will be striking. The Conservatorium Students' Association fully supports the staff at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music who will be participating in this industrial action. The staff members from the Conservatorium who are striking will be forming a picket line during these two days. We, as the CSA, will be on this picket to show solidarity with their campaign for better, fairer unis for everyone. We do this alongside the SRC, the USU, and many other faculty societies.
It is of our opinion that the precarious and insecure nature of casual work at the university has a severely negative impact on the lives of the staff we so heavily rely on. We are deeply saddened to hear the testimonies of staff who have worked decades at the institution with no job security of a renewed position from year to year. Similarly, we are dismayed by the conditions that have led to unpaid hours spent by staff to give us the best education possible.
It is essential for our staff to have fair working conditions, including a reasonable ratio between teaching, research and administration. For our staff to provide us with the best music education, they myst be able to complete their research and not be overworked to the point of burnout. Similarly, we ask for the staff to be financially compensated for the brilliant work they do. The reports of wage theft at the University are disgraceful.
Furthermore, we condemn the systemic racism across the University as a whole and echo the call for more employment of First Nations people. At the Conservatorium we are privileged to learn on the beautiful Gadigal lands in the Eora nation in a site which has facilitated education for tens of thousands of years.
On the 11th and 12th of May, we encourage every student to strike in solidarity with staff. This is our first chance in five years to make significant progress on pay and working conditions at the University of Sydney and the Conservatorium. When students and staff join together to fight for a better education, real progress can be made. We encourage you to research the NTEU and read the documents created by the Conservatorium NTEU division to further inform yourselves of what this strike means for us. If you are concerned how striking in solidarity will affect your attendance marks, please contact your unit of study coordinator at the earliest opportunity.
Yours sincerely,
Bridgitte Holden
President
Conservatorium Students' Association
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