The National Tertiary Education Union has called for either 15 per cent pay increase over three years or the consumer price index plus 1.5 per cent - whichever is greater.

The union members also want an immediate 5 per cent pay rise as well as a suite of measures to reduce workloads and improve job security.

NTEU ANU branch president Millan Pintos-Lopez said wages at the university were not keeping pace with the cost-of-living and lagged behind other Group of Eight universities.

"I think it's a pretty ambitious claim but I also feel like it's fair," Mr Pintos-Lopez said.

"This is about a genuine and real pay rise that we deserve."

The union claims the pay increase is justified after staff deferred pay increases to save the university $20 million which was intended to prevent job losses.

The university went on to shed 467 jobs, with the intention of hiring up to 145 new people under its COVID recovery plan.

In 2021, the institution was expecting a $17.7 million deficit but instead reported a surplus of $232.4 million.

Mr Pintos-Lopez said the remaining staff were feeling under-valued and under-supported.

"Over COVID we've worked really hard. We've had staff redundancies, staff leaving across the board and the workload hasn't decreased," he said.

"We've just been picking up that extra slack, we've been carrying it on our backs and I think they're tired."

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The NTEU is calling for a cap of 22 students for any class that is not a lecture, a right for fixed term staff to be converted to permanent employment after two contracts or three years' service and a commitment to minimise the use of casual labour.

"It's no secret that our sector abuses the casual employment within the universities ... it is routinely casual staff members who are employed semester, on semester, on semester for years, and there is no path for them to get converted," the branch president said.

An ANU spokesman said the university had received the NTEU's correspondence and would respond in due course.

"The university looks forward to working constructively and collaboratively with the NTEU on improving the terms and conditions of our staff."

The log of claims asks for a prohibition on using recorded material created by staff who no longer work at the university without their consent.

It calls for the right to disconnect and not be contactable outside work hours, and six days of menstrual or menopausal leave per annum for all staff.

It also calls for an increased loading to the casual hourly rate to 50 per cent to compensate for breaks in employment.

Mr Millan-Lopez said it was an opportunity for the university to adapt and become the best employer in the sector.

"I want this to be a collaborative approach and I want the university to see this as an opportunity.

"But if they're not willing to meet us, I'm willing to have a long fight on this if it needs to happen."

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