The Union representing Australia’s Federal Police officers has revealed its members walked off the job at airports around the country yesterday. The industrial action has continued today at three sites in Canberra. AFP bosses claim many officers chose to continue working.
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00:00The Australian Federal Police Association had been threatening strike action for months
00:07over a pay dispute. The federal government has offered the union an 11% pay bump, while
00:13the union wants almost double that. The AFPA has described this action as having a minimal
00:19effect on frontline operations and says it wouldn't take any action that would put the
00:24community in danger. But it says its members did stage walkouts at major airports across
00:30the country yesterday. Union President Alex Karawana says the AFP risks losing officers
00:36to state-based police forces if the offer doesn't improve.
00:40We can't continue to have our members being underpaid for the work that they do. They're
00:45undervalued and people are burning out. We are losing members to the other jurisdictions.
00:49It's going to come to a point where we're not going to have the police officers, we're
00:52not going to have the staff, in order to keep the community safe.
00:56The union had also threatened to walk off the job at Parliament House, but says those
01:01efforts have been thwarted. But it says it is prepared to take further strike action
01:06if there's no progress in negotiations.