Australian law requires that the employer must deduct pay for any period during which an employee is on strike. So, if you are on strike for a day, you will lose a day’s pay.

If you participate in a work-ban – for example, on answering emails from management, or attending meetings called by management – the employer has three options: it can maintain your full pay, make a partial reduction in pay to reflect the severity of the ban, or not accept work from you at all (and not pay you at all) while you are participating in a ban.

The NTEU has a ‘strike fund’, which can be used to support members, and casual members in particular, who lose income as a result of industrial action. The rules around protected industrial action protect you from adverse action by management; your contract cannot be terminated or your performance called into question as a result of participating in industrial action.