More than 450 staff at Geoscience Australia have signed a letter to federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, protesting over inadequate pay and poor management.
Staff at the Canberra-based national geological institution which also monitors earthquake and tsunami risks across the Pacific region will hold a lunch-time protest rally today, following a breakdown in negotiations over the past seven months to secure a cost-of-living pay rise.
In a letter sent to the minister two weeks ago, staff claim they are not benefiting from their key contribution to Australia's current resources minerals boom, or their support for climate change innovation such as geothermal energy and carbon capture.
''Our management has advised us that your government has reduced our funding and as a result they are unable to reward us appropriately for our efforts toward securing the future mineral and energy resources of our nation,'' the letter says.
The Community and Public Sector Union claims the organisation's current salaries are not competitive with those offered by the mining industry or universities, leading to a 9 per cent annual attrition rate of scientific staff and an 11 per cent turnover of administrative and technical staff.
Other staff complaints raised with management during negotiations include claims of gender bias, with employees describing Geoscience Australia in a union briefing document as a ''male dominated workplace with real gender inequities.''
Staff have also voiced concerns about inadequate facilities for breastfeeding mothers returning to work and for Muslim staff to perform daily prayers.
A union spokesman said management had told women they could ''use a room in the disabled toilet'' to breastfeed or express breastmilk.
The union claims management has also allocated the same room to be used as a sick bay and''multi-denominational prayer area.''
Geoscience Australia sources claim fears of staff protest encouraged management to cancel the organisation's popular Science Week open day, scheduled for last Sunday.
The event attracted almost 3000 visitors last year, with 120 staff acting as volunteer guides.
Although 150 staff volunteered this year, in an announcement obtained by The Canberra Times, acting chief executive Chris Pigram told staff the open day had been cancelled because of insufficient volunteers.
''The one-on-one interactions with the public are commented upon glowingly in our feedback sheets every year, and it has become clear in recent days that we just weren't going to have enough staff present on the day to ensure this outstanding level of personal contact,'' Dr Pigram's statement said.
Staff claim the open day was cancelled after management discovered union members planned to distribute leaflets and balloons calling for ''fair pay at GA''.
Dr Pigram was contacted by The Canberra Times yesterday but declined to comment.
''Any discussions we have on these matters will be solely with our staff,'' he said.
A spokesman for Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson said the dispute was ''a matter to be addressed by Geoscience Australia management''.
A Community and Public Sector Union spokesman Dermot Browne said Mr Ferguson had recently praised Geoscience Australia's role in securing a landmark United Nations judgement that expanded Australia's ocean borders by 2.5million square kilometres.
''But Geoscience Australia management are not willing to give the staff who created this potential wealth enough pay to keep them up with the cost of living,'' he said.