A shocking number of Australian Federal Police employees are considering a career-switch due to unfair workloads and wages, a union representative said at a strike on Wednesday.
Risking docked pay, police officers, investigative assistants and staff working at the Edmond Barton Building, Winchester Police Station and Majura Police Complex walked out of the job for the first time since 1991.
The industrial action followed a recent Australian Federal Police Association survey which showed 75 per cent of its members were thinking of quitting, the union's media and government relations manager Troy Roberts said.
He represented about 40 staff striking outside the Winchester precinct in Belconnen.
"The thing that was really scary for us [in survey results] was the amount of officers who were considering ... careers outside the AFP if the current deal goes through," Mr Roberts said.
"It's better for them to take a sick day than come into work, because they can't afford petrol and parking to get to work.
"These are the people that protect Australia and Australians, they need to be looked after better."
The union had more than 4000 members, estimated to be more than 50 per cent of AFP's workforce, union spokesperson Anil Lambert said.
Previously, on Tuesday, AFP officers walked off the job at Canberra Airport and others across the country.
AFPA president Alex Caruana said they could not draw media attention for security reasons adding that the union was aware the action was "disruptive and costly".
"AFP officers will not take any industrial action that will put anyone in danger, but we are prepared to be disruptive in our fight for a reasonable deal. [Wednesday's] walkout is just another warning shot," he said.
Mr Caruana said the federal government's suggested pay deal which enforced an 11.2 per cent salary cap increase over three years, could risk a "mass exodus".
Sergeant Luke Houlihan, attached to ACT Policing's futures team which works to improve internal processes, said local police numbers had not kept up with Canberra's increasing population.
The sergeant, who has been at the AFP for more than two decades, said lower-ranking staff were not being "recognised" and would be the most affected by an unfair pay deal.
"It's very frustrating, especially for more junior members who are really affected by the cost of living," Sgt Houlihan said.
"I can see how hard it is for them. How much work they have to do - extra work, overtime - to be able to afford their bills and living, and the pressure that puts on them.
"The workload that they're under now is extreme."
Leading Senior Constable Jane Thompson said AFP staff were offered the same pay deal as other Australian public servants but the danger and the conditions they faced were far from similar.
"We get injured at work, psychologically injured ... and we do full shift work which takes years off our lives," she said.
"This is very different to a public service job and we need to be paid fairly for it.
"I felt more valued when I first joined [24 years ago] ... I think now we're treated more as a resource not as people."
The AFP, said to be the lowest base-paid police force in the country, comprises sworn and unsworn members from ACT Policing, and teams stationed in other locations in and outside Australia.
Their roles included community policing and investigating large-scale, nation-wide crimes such as drug smuggling, cyber crime and child exploitation, Mr Roberts said.
