Around 1,000 federal public servants in the Hunter region of NSW have joined the nationwide strike.

A mass meeting in Newcastle today will see workers from the ATO, Defence, CSIRO and Centrelink raise their voices against the Abbott Government's slashing of workplace rights, pay and conditions.

It is just one of the mass meetings being held in 18 cities and regional centres across the country today.

Community and Public Sector Union National Secretary Nadine Flood says the sluggish negotiations affecting over 160,000 public servants have gone nowhere, and walking off the job is now the only choice.

“After more than a year, the government is still refusing to sit down and negotiate with the union like most other sensible employers do,” she said.

“What they're actually offering is pay cuts for thousands of workers.”

“The government has slashed over 17,000 public sector jobs, so people are under real pressure,” she said.

“And now it's coming after the rights, conditions and take home pay of people who work in the Commonwealth public sector.”