Over 2,000 CSIRO Staff Institute 2hr Rolling Strikes This Week. (March 22, 2011)

On March 16 nearly 100 workers from CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory and the Belmont laboratory stopped work for two hours to protest against stalled enterprise bargaining negotiations. Now the Staff Association's Secretary Sam Popovski says that: "No progress has been made on those major issues of pay and consultation as a result of" several meetings with the CSIRO executive.

 Therefore, work stoppages will run for two hours at 43 different sites around the country until until Friday.

According to the Staff Association, management's proposed annual pay increases of 3% over the next three to four years will not even cover the increasing cost of living.

This is the first time in the organisation's 80-year history that strike action has been taken by staff.