Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) members in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry held one-hour stopwork meetings at 40 sites around Australia on August 4.
They are campaigning for a pay rise greater than the 3% a year offered by management.
They voted to escalate their action in coming weeks, including work bans from August 11, if the employer does not make an improved pay offer.
On August 2, delegates from all Australian Public Service departments rallied outside the Canberra office of the Australian Public Service Commission.
They protested against the commission’s role in imposing a 3% a year limit on pay rises in almost all federal government agencies. Inflation is expected to exceed 3%.
The CPSU wants a real wage increase for all members, plus extra measures to help workers in lower-paid agencies catch up.