By Rin Glenn

PERTH -- Forty workers from the Department of Minerals and Energy picketed their office on Adelaide Terrace on May 17. They began their strike after three weeks of work bans, all of which were organised by the Community and Public Sector Union's Civil Servants Association (CPSU-CSA).

The workers are demanding a 7% pay rise without trade-offs contained in the enterprise bargaining agreements. The workers felt there was no choice but to strike after they were threatened with suspension for participating in union-organised work bans.

A CPSU-CSA representative at the picket line said that the director general of the department had been using illegal tactics to prevent workers from taking action. For example, level one and two female workers were intimidated into working in isolation until the bans were lifted.

The angry workers said that there had been disagreements over enterprise bargaining for the last three and a half years. They will meet on May 20 to decide on further action.

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