Employees at the national broadcaster went on strike for 24 hours from 3.30 this morning (AEST).
The industrial action follows ten months of failed negotiations with management over a new enterprise agreement.
Unions claim the workers have been offered a three per cent wage rise or 3.5 percent if penalties and other benefits were traded away.
The rate is less than inflation at four per cent.
The head of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance Mark Ryan says the strike involving up to 3,000 employees has had a substantial impact on morning programs.
With only skeleton staff still working, many local programs were forced off the air and a single national news bulletin replaced some local services.
Protest meetings have been held outside ABC sites in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Hobart.
Ninety-one percent of Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and Community and Public Sector Union members at the ABC voted to take the protected industrial action .. in a secret postal ballot by the Electoral Commission.
The ABC says it's working to minimise disruption to services.