Angry ASC shipbuilders have rallied outside Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne's Adelaide office amid five days of industrial action over stalled enterprise agreement negotiations.
But while ASC says government policies are playing a role in the impasse, a spokeswoman for Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says it's up to the government-owned shipbuilder to resolve the issue with its workforce.
As the workers prepare to strike again on Tuesday, it is unclear who can resolve their concerns over proposed revisions to their agreement, which the Australian Manufacturing Union's says could strip back rights and entitlements.
"They're not prepared to cop that," AMWU SA Secretary Peter Bauer told AAP.
Mr Bauer said the rally outside Mr Pyne's office on Monday followed the union writing to the minister asking him to intervene in negotiations, which he did not.
A spokeswoman for Mr Pyne said it was up to Senator Cormann to comment on the matter.
While a spokeswoman for the senator said ASC, as a government business enterprise, was responsible for managing its relations with its employees.
"This is a matter for ASC's management and workforce," she said.
The changes are linked to ASC coming under public service guidelines last year in line with federal coalition policy.
Under the guidelines, workers may lose the right to be consulted on changes on such things as hours of work and their preference for permanent employment over casual or contract work, and may be restricted on wage negotiations.
ASC had previously managed wages and conditions autonomously for 26 years.
In a brief statement on Friday, ASC said it would continue to seek a resolution to the dispute, through constructive negotiations with workers.
But the shipbuilder said it had to implement the public service guidelines.
Mr Bauer said Mr Pyne should play a role in breaking the negotiation impasse.
"Mr Pyne is the Minister for Defence Industry. This is a defence industry issue," he said.
"He should be the one who at least gets involved in the issues confronting the industry at the moment and this is an issue that is confronting workers at ASC."
The workers will strike again on Tuesday, after taking a rostered day off on Friday and not working on Saturday or Sunday because of a ban on overtime.
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