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Tens of thousands of federal public servants are set to walk off the job early next month with no end in sight to their three-year dispute over wages and conditions. Officials from Medicare, Centrelink, Child Support, the Tax Office, Defence, Agriculture and Water Resources, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet will strike for 24 hours on September 9, according to their main union, the CPSU. Border Force on-water units began rolling stoppages on Monday but no repeat is planned of the recent airport disruption, caused by striking Border Force, Immigration and Agriculture officials. The union concedes that disruption to frontline services is likely during the September action, but has appealed for support from the public in what it calls a "fight for a fair deal" for frontline public servants. More than 100,000 public servants are yet to sign on to new enterprise agreements offered under the Abbott-era public sector bargaining policy, while about 50,000 government workers, in about 54 agencies or departments, have signed on to the new deals. The federal election was expected to act as a circuit-breaker in the dispute, which has rumbled on since 2013, but public service minister Michaelia Cash last week instructed agency and department bosses that no compromise was permitted on the tough terms of the policy as talks with their workforces resume. Senator Cash has been dismissive of the unions' efforts in the wake of the election and says the the CPSU itself is the greatest barrier to its members receiving long-delayed pay rises. The minister's office did not respond before deadline on Monday to a request for comment. CPSU National Secretary Nadine Flood said the new round of strikes were designed to send a message that resistance to the policy remained strong, despite the re-election of the Turnbull government. "The purpose of the strike is to show the Government how determined CPSU members are to find a fair resolution to this long-running dispute," the union leader said. "Their frustration continues to grow over the Turnbull government's three-year attack on their working rights and conditions, particularly the family-friendly rights that should define a modern workforce." The union, which must still secure Fair Work Commission consent for the planned action, said the recent census failures were the direct result of Coalition policies toward the public service more broadly. "The Turnbull Government's mean-spirited and unfair treatment of public sector workers has now stretched for 1000 days," Ms Flood said. "It's part of a broader agenda to undermine and run down the public services that Australians know, trust and rely on. "The repercussions are becoming increasingly clear, with the recent census debacle just the latest example of what happens when public institutions and the people who work in them are run down." Ms Flood acknowledged that there may be disruption to service as her union members protested. "They are conscious of the potential temporary disruption caused by this strike, but are urging the general public to support their important work and their fight for a fair deal," she said.

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