Travel to Australia hit by strikes

26 September 2016 by News Desk   |   SHARE  

Travel to Australia via airports and shipping terminals already face 14 days of strikes resulting from a long-standing staff dispute.

Travel to Australia could be affected for months to come as the union dispute shows no sign of being resolved.

Union officials say that with up to 800 Border Protection jobs facing the axe, and a lack of dialogue with government, workers have no choice but to go on strike in order to get their concerns addressed.

The government says it will reduce staffing numbers by 305 by targeting middle managers with voluntary redundancies and through a freeze on hiring new staff.

But the Community and Public Sector Union claims the department could lose up to 800 jobs in border security, a short-sighted move as there are already over 1,000 less staff in the DIBP compared to four years ago.

Travel to Australia hit by strikes

In the same period the number of international passengers has grown by 3.6 million, there’s an extra 2.8 million visas being processed, half a million more pieces of cargo to be inspected and more than nine million more pieces of international mail and parcels to be checked while terrorism risks have risen, said Rupert Evans of the CPSU.

“The Government’s budget cuts are forcing DIBP to sack workers as the workload continues to grow rapidly,” Evans said.

Union members from the DIBP have already staged one 24-hour strike at international airports, ports and offices to protest at the lack of progress in negotiations.

Now Border Protection staff are to stage a series of strikes over the next 14 days in a move that will cause delays at airports and shipping terminals across Australia.

Travellers should not be too greatly affected, government officials claim, as extra staff are being laid on to cover during current strike actions.

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