As mentioned on HPD last Saturday, there will be a strike at UNSW today by the NTEU.

The strike is centred around expired Enterprise Agreements that the Management are refusing to re-sign leading to negotiations having stalled.

Unfortunately, the power of this strike seems limited.

Around campus most students are either: going to come to class because their lecturers said they were coming, treating it as a holiday, or completely ignorant of why the NTEU is striking.

The problem is high-lighted when we consider that for most people a strike seems like an inconveniance.

A not all together unpredictable state of affairs, but one that shows the gulf that has grown between students and staff and the work that may need to be done to bridge it.

Next Thursday at UNSW there has been a 24 hour strike planned by the NTEU, a plan which has been met with a ridiculous letter sent to students by Management.

The letter basically tries to make the NTEU look radicalised, unwilling to negotiate and separate from the running of the unversity. Nothing could be further from the truth and unless something is done to change this perception, the university faces dark days ahead.

by Sean Maguire

A few days ago a boy- who will remain nameless- began talking to me, and with minimal cues starting pouring his story into my ear.  

It eventuated that he was in the Army reserves.

The end of the day arrived, and as he walked me to my car, he suggested that we walk past the army reserve college and barracks that resides on Anzac Parade across the road from UNSW, I looked at him surprised,

"Surely only army men are allowed in there? What if I get shot at?" 

To which he replied,

"Haha, no, anyone can walk through here... it's fine"

We had walked some way when he stopped me and pointed to a small demountable building, (this is where the story get a little more interesting).

He informed me that, that was the building where they kept all the loaded guns for training missions. 

"Whoa, guns"- I fooled- "What kind of guns?"

"Oh you know, pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers... the usual"

"The usual? A cupboard of loaded grenade launchers is the usual on university grounds?"

"Yeah, pretty much... we just take them out when we need them for drills"

"Cool."

And it was cool, not only do I now know where the entire artillery store of UNSW is, I now also know that if I'm ever in need of some hard core weaponry that "anyone can walk through here" and grab it.

To think I had only known this boy for a number of hours.  I know men like to associate their dicks with heavy machinery, but really? This literally? 

Click read more to see where the weapons are!

At five universities around Australia there were strikes yesterday; as teaching staff demanded smaller workloads, smaller class sizes and greater security for an incredibly underappreciated casual staff.

At UNSW there was a good show from lectures and members of the CFMEU who showed their support by stopping construction and taking an extended lunch break. Yet, while the picket line and the rally was inspiring in sentiment, for Dr. Rubber Glove (someone very new to protests) it was demoralising to see how passively the people protested. The night before I'd imagined clashes with police, swearing and violently pushing students away:

But alas, in an era where fines for striking are exorbitant and Fred Hilmer is your Vice-Chancellor, patience rather than violence is probably a protester's best weapon.