Editor's Blog

Four weeks of rolling-strike action over pay conditions is set to further delay visa processing by the department of immigration. Airports around Australia could come to a stand-still in the next few weeks.

Thousands of civil servants are expected to join the strike action from 21 March 2016 unless the Government engaged in genuine talks to end the row over pay and conditions, notes a report in the ABC.

"We've been trying to resolve this for months and we're calling on Prime Minister Turnbull to give us someone to sit down and talk to…He has nearly three weeks to avoid this strike action, but we seriously think it could be resolved in three days if they're willing to talk about fixing this mess." Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU)  secretary Nadine Flood said.

The CPSU wants the government to negotiate workplace agreements after immigration staff faced major cuts to their take-home pay, following the department's merger with Customs last year. In addition, the CPSU said workers are also concerned about giving up work conditions.

"The big problem here is the previous minister, Eric Abetz, launched a nutty attack on family friendly conditions and control of working hours, leave and so on, which [current Employment] Minister Michaelia Cash hasn't yet stepped away from," she said.

"We've got women who force being told you can be forced to change your working hours, your working days and to work on the other side of a major city at four weeks' notice; that doesn't work [with] childcare, schools and modern life."

Public Service Minister Michaelia Cash said there were "more constructive ways to undertake workplace bargaining". Negotiations have apparently been ongoing for 2 years now.