Medicare, Centrelink and Child Support staff in the Illawarra will walk off the job on Monday – the first of four days of planned strike action in coming weeks.
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Department of Human Services staff in various roles are protesting what they say is a three-year Turnbull government attack on their rights, conditions and pay.
The industrial action, organised by the Community and Public Sector Union, will also see staff strike at various times on Friday, next Monday and on December 16.
“DHS staff work every day to help ordinary Australians, but they’ve been doing it pretty tough themselves for three long years as the government’s frozen their pay while trying to strip essential rights,” CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood said.
“These workers are among the lowest paid in the Commonwealth public sector, and stand to lose the most under the government’s policy.
“They want to go on strike, even though they can’t really afford to but they are absolutely desperate for government to do something. It really underlines how nasty this bargaining mess is.”
The department has urged people to defer non-urgent business, saying the industrial action has the potential to impact Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support services.
Customer payments won’t be affected.
“We are focused on making sure staff are available to help people who are in financial hardship and need immediate assistance,” DHS general manager Hank Jongen said.
“So we’re asking customers with non-urgent business to consider contacting the department at another time.”
People are advised to use online services through their myGov account, or the ExpressPlus apps.
For updates on service disruptions, visit checkhumanservices.gov.au/servicechanges