Hundreds of staff at the University of Sydney are set to strike for 24 hours on Wednesday 2 September amid a dispute over artificial intelligence protections in a new enterprise agreement.
The walkout follows failed negotiations between the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and university management. Most classes suitable for online delivery will be moved off campus, while some laboratories and other sessions that cannot be conducted remotely may be cancelled. ([sydney.edu.au](https://www.sydney.edu.au/study/student-life/student-news/2026/08/24/planned-industrial-action-wednesday-2-september-2026.html?utm_source=openai))
The university’s campuses will remain open, although students and staff may encounter picket lines. University guidance advises students to check Canvas and their university email for changes to classes, assessments and supervision arrangements. ([sydney.edu.au](https://www.sydney.edu.au/study/student-life/student-news/2026/08/24/planned-industrial-action-wednesday-2-september-2026.html?utm_source=openai))
University of Sydney strike centres on AI protections
Vince Caughley, NSW division secretary of the NTEU, said staff wanted enforceable safeguards where AI could lead to job losses, substantially alter roles or intensify workloads.
The union is also seeking protection against AI reproducing workers’ voices and images, as well as safeguards for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and intellectual property.
“We’re not giving that management model a blank cheque to use AI to accelerate the hollowing out of university jobs and education,” Mr Caughley said.
He said staff were concerned about a management culture in higher education that had been criticised by recent inquiries for opaque decision-making and a growing disconnect between university leaders, teaching staff and researchers.
The NTEU has argued that the university is moving too quickly on AI without sufficient evidence, consultation or due diligence. Its broader claims include improved job security, action on casualisation, better disability rights and opposition to compulsory redundancies. The union’s published strike material also identifies equal redundancy pay for professional staff and proposed new employment categories as key disputes. ([nsw.nteu.au](https://nsw.nteu.au/sydney/onstrike/?utm_source=openai))
Mr Caughley said the university was acting inconsistently with its own report, which described AI as one of the most significant transformations in the history of higher education.
A university spokesperson described the industrial action as premature and said it would not determine the outcome of the negotiations.
“However, we support the right of union members to take protected industrial action and we’re continuing to engage at the bargaining table, from where our agreement will be driven,” they said.
The university said it believed AI should be managed through policies and frameworks that could be updated as the technology developed, rather than fixed provisions in an agreement lasting three years. It said its approach was based on human-centred use and that staff should be given the skills and opportunities needed to work with AI. ([newsfiledaily.com](https://newsfiledaily.com/staff-to-stop-work-in-protest-of-ai/?utm_source=openai))
The University of Sydney is negotiating a replacement for its 2023-26 enterprise agreement with the NTEU and the Community and Public Sector Union. The university says protected industrial action is a legal right under Australia’s Fair Work Act, provided the required process has been followed. ([sydney.edu.au](https://www.sydney.edu.au/study/student-life/student-news/2026/08/24/planned-industrial-action-wednesday-2-september-2026.html?utm_source=openai))
