Staff at the Tidbinbilla complex are protesting a push to change pay and conditions and have accused CSIRO management of trying to forcibly implement the federal government's controversial wage negotiation policy.

Unions say about 70 staff will stop work after 2pm at the complex, which provides round-the-clock monitoring of 30 NASA spacecraft in a daily rotation system with two other facilities in California and Spain.

NASA will delay handing over tracking from its California complex at Goldstone to Tidbinbilla by six hours as a result of the action, being led by members of the Electrical Trades Union, Professionals Australia and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.

Tidbinbilla is one of three deep-space communications facilities supporting interplanetary spacecraft missions as part of NASA's deep space network, described as the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system on earth.

The 2014 enterprise bargaining agreement gives the staff pay rises of 2.8 per cent each year, higher than the 2 per cent pay rise cap currently imposed on public sector EBA processes.

Staff walking off the job include operational, engineering and administrative workers.

Professionals Australia ACT director David Smith said negotiations between the unions and the CSIRO had been ongoing for nine months but were bogged down over attempts to reduce the pay and conditions of public sector workers.

"The Reserve Bank governor has again urged employers to support higher wages growth yet the government persists in punishing employees with pay increases that are below [the consumer price index]," he said.

"The workforce at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex aren't going to cop this as well as cuts to conditions.

"They have delivered significant productivity improvements over the last few years and their work is critical to billions of dollars of communications infrastructure."

Mr Smith said it was extraordinary workers at a facility completely funded by NASA to provide vital space communications faced having their wages and conditions cut by the federal government.

He said employees at the site had provided significant increases in productivity over recent years.

"The industrial action is not being taken lightly, but workers feel that delaying the scheduled handover of communications from California is the only way the leadership at NASA will be made fully aware of the mismanagement of this vital facility that is taking place at the behest of the Australian government."

The unions warned industrial action could further escalate further if CSIRO management didn't change its position.

"Our members know just how vital their work is for maintaining communications with significant interplanetary research missions, which is why they have endured nine months of failed negotiations before taking this action," Mr Smith said.

"Unfortunately, the CSIRO board has dug its heels in and is insisting the Commonwealth's wages policy be imposed on Tidbinbilla, leaving workers with no choice but to stop work in protest."