Staff of the Immigration and Border Force agency marked the first day of their newly merged federal department on July 1 by going on strike for the second time in a week.
Two-hour stoppages and meetings took place at seaports, workplaces and international airports, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Darwin, Perth and Adelaide. Significant disruption of services was reported.
The actions follow several weeks of rolling half-day stoppages by thousands of public service union members from a range of agencies, including Tax, Defence, Medicare, Centrelink, Agriculture and Employment, among others.
"Immigration and Border Force members walked off the job in strong numbers this morning to send a strong and clear message to the government," Nadine Flood, Community and Public Sector Union national secretary, said on July 1.
"Why should Immigration and Border Force officers stand idly by while the government slashes their take-home pay by up to $8000 a year. No other major employer is trying to do that to their staff.
"The government has slashed 17,300 public sector jobs since taking office and now it's going after the conditions, rights and take-home wages of Australians who work in the public sector," she said.
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