Overseas travelers arriving and leaving on Thursday face clearance delay at international airports as customs officers will go on strike again for 24 hours over a pay dispute with the government.

The strike that will begin midnight on Wednesday in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth will also affect cargo inspections, ports, international mail centres, and customs state and national offices, Perthnow.com quoted Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) national secretary Nadine Flood as saying.

Customs staff at Brisbane, Darwin and Adelaide international airports will walk out of their jobs for two hours.
Staff at the Customs Marine Unit will stop work for two hours, Flood added. It will be the unit's first time to join a strike but she assured that it's life-saving role will not be affected.

The strike in Cairns and Gold Coast international airports starts Tuesday.

The customs management and CPSU will meet on Tuesday and try to break the deadlock in negotiations for a pay raise.
"Customs officers have difficult, dangerous and dirty jobs. They deserve a pay rise that keeps up with the cost of living rather than the three per cent a year the Government is trying to impose," said Flood, according to Perth Now.

A spokeswoman of Customs and Border Protection said negotiations will take place until Wednesday.

She advised overseas travelers to come to the airport early to minimize delays.In September, thousands of passengers endured long queues for customs processing at airports around the country when customs officers staged two-hour strikes in the morning and afternoon to protest the government's refusal to grant them a 13 percent pay rise in the next three years. The government was offering only 9 percent.