Worldwide passengers are facing a week of delays at Melbourne Airport as customs and immigration staff strike over a pay dispute.
Advertisement
“It’s also cruise ship arrivals at the ports, container inspection and on Thursday, other Commonwealth areas like Centrelink, the tax office, Medicare and others will be on a half-day strike”, Flood said.
The immigration and border force workers are part of a larger cost dispute with the federal government that affects 160,000 people.
“These are mums and dads anxious about paying their mortgage and paying their bills”, Flood said.
According to Flood, immigration and border force workers are being hit hardest with the current proposals resulting in a cut to their existing take home pay of $8000 a year.
She said they’d asked former Minister for Employment Eric Abetz to meet and had written to new minister Michaelia Cash.
The union is angered that the government has refused to meet to discuss their differing issues in the past year.
Union secretary Nadine Flood said workers were “angry”.
Travelers are being advised to arrive at the airports earlier than the recommended two hours before departures.
The strike at the country’s eight global airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin, is expected to cause major flight delays and operational disruptions.
The Australian Border Force, has assured travellers that safety matters have been addressed: “Arrangements are in place to protect Australia’s borders and minimise the impact on our operations”, the department posted on its Facebook page.
Advertisement
Notice has been given by the CPSU that the industrial action will continue until the 30th of September with strikes planned twice a day every day until then.
