Australian Border Force staff involved in a dispute over pay and conditions have been stood down without pay in an attempt to head off industrial action.

On Wednesday ABF staff who are members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) were stood down without pay, despite the approval of the industrial action by the Fair Work commission.

ABF staff have been involved in protracted negotiations with the immigration department over pay and conditions.

About 500 staff from the ABF were scheduled to engaged in limited stop-work action on Wednesday from the freight and mail divisions. The CPSU said staff were notified on Friday by the immigration department that if they took part they would be docked pay.

The stop-work action on Wednesday comes ahead of a broader strike on 9 November that may cause delays to international air travel, and is part of a series of industrial actions that began in September.

The CPSU secretary, Nadine Flood, tweeted on Wednesday that she had met with staff who had been stood down, and said they were feeling angry and determined.

Border Force has stood down workers. @CPSUnion crew out early asking how they feel - angry, determined. pic.twitter.com/1YlsRh5vUM — Nadine Flood (@NadineFloodCPSU) November 3, 2015

In a statement issued on Wednesday Flood said: “Our phones have been running hot since the department made their stand-down threat. The strong view of border force staff is that they will absolutely not be intimidated and will proceed with industrial action. All the department has achieved is to force these workers to escalate their work bans into what amounts to a management-initiated strike.

“Members were already outraged that the government’s bargaining policy was putting many of their conditions and rights at risk, with many staff facing cuts to their take-home pay of $8,000 a year or more. The department’s latest move has now added insult to injury ahead of the 24-hour strike by all immigration and border protection staff on Monday.”

The department had attempted to justify the approach because it was a busy time for the freight division in the lead-up to Christmas.

“It’s a bit rich for the department to bring up Christmas when it’s still trying to strip essential rights and conditions and cut the take-home pay of many by $8,000. Imagine the grim Christmas that would result from that kind of hit to a workers’ family finances,” Flood said.

It is not clear how many staff have been stood down after the notification by the immigration department on Friday. The department has been contacted for comment.