Strike action could affect international travellers at airports in four states today, as federal public servants gear up for wider bans on Thursday.

Key points: Staff angry over two-year battle over pay, conditions

Staff angry over two-year battle over pay, conditions Yesterday, Michaelia Cash said it was disappointing Easter travellers would be affected

Yesterday, Michaelia Cash said it was disappointing Easter travellers would be affected Larger, 24-hour strike to take place on Thursday

Immigration staff and Border Force officers will stop work at airports in Cairns, Townsville, Perth, Darwin and Adelaide for several hours as part of their two-year battle over pay and conditions.

Airports in other states and territories are not expected to be impacted today.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) said proposed cuts could leave some Border Force officers out of pocket by thousands of dollars a year.

The CPSU's Nadine Flood said she expected bigger disruptions for international travellers on Thursday.

"We'll see rolling strike action kicking off today with various far flung airports, before the major airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and other locations join in on Thursday for a 24-hour strike," she said.

"We do expect that to have some impact."

Staff at cruise ship terminals will also take part in the industrial action.

Tuesday's strike-affected airports: Cairns International: 4:00am–12:00pm; 5:00pm–1:00am

Cairns International: 4:00am–12:00pm; 5:00pm–1:00am Townsville: 9:00am–11:00am

Townsville: 9:00am–11:00am Perth international terminal: 3:00am–11:00; 4:00pm–12:00am

Perth international terminal: 3:00am–11:00; 4:00pm–12:00am Darwin Airport: 2:00am–10:00am; 1:00pm–9:00pm; 10:00pm–12:00am

Darwin Airport: 2:00am–10:00am; 1:00pm–9:00pm; 10:00pm–12:00am Adelaide Airport: 5:00am–1:00pm; 4:00pm–12:00am

Yesterday, staff at Medicare, Centrelink, the Tax Office, Defence, the Bureau of Meteorology, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Bureau of Statistics walked off the job.

The Department of Education, Department of Environment, GeoScience Australia, IP Australia and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal were also affected.

The Federal Government criticised the strike action as ill-conceived and counterproductive.

Public Service Minister Michaelia Cash said the union would better service its members by negotiating in good faith.

"It is also greatly concerning that the CPSU's conduct will mean that some of the most vulnerable in society may [have] their services impacted over Easter," she said.

"Rather than causing staff to miss out on pay, and income support recipients to potentially miss out on services in the lead-up to Easter, it would be far more productive for the CPSU to engage in genuine discussions with DHS to reach agreement ... so staff can receive a pay rise and services can resume."