Thousands of Defence Department staff will continue their industrial action today in protest against what they say is a loss in pay.
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Civilian staff in military bases and offices around the country will walk off the job for up to four hours, saying the Government's proposal to increase their pay by 3per cent a year is inadequate.
The industrial arbiter, Fair Work Australia, granted the workers permission to strike two months ago, after they voted to reject the pay offer.
Staff have held several stopwork meetings since and have put in place continuing bans against certain types of work.
One of four unions involved in today's action, the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia, says it is the first time in 20 years the unions have taken joint action against the department.
The association's federal government executive officer, David Smith, said last night Defence had refused to negotiate pay rises higher than 3per cent a year, even though the inflation rate is now 3.6per cent.
''All Defence employees, both civilian and ADF, deserve reasonable pay increases not an effective pay cut ...'' he said.
''Our members work on high-profile Defence projects and are proud to help protect our nation and region, but they are under-resourced and underpaid for the work that they do. And unless they get the respect they deserve, they will be increasingly seeking jobs elsewhere.''
The strikes will affect up to 70 workplaces in Canberra, Victoria, NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Special Minister of State Gary Gray said this week the Government was willing to allow pay rises above 3per cent a year, but only if staff could find savings within their workplace to fund increases.
The minister's spokesman said Mr Gray respected the public servants' right to strike, as long as their actions complied with workplace relations law.
