Almost 10,000 public servants went on strike across the country on Wednesday afternoon, with some taking industrial action for the first time in decades.The Public Service Association (PSA) organised 18 rallies across 16 locations as part of its campaign against the government's approach to public sector pay, staffing and plans to replace thousands of public sector jobs with AI by 2029.PSA national delegate Vaughan Trounson, who works at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), said salary bands for some people hadn't moved in half a decade.Trounson, who works as a patent examiner, said members of his team were struggling."I've got a colleague who's said he hasn't had a pay rise in five years... I know for myself I moved into a house four years ago and rates were 5k a year, now they're 8k or 9k.Hundreds gathered in the capital for Wednesday's strike.RNZ/Zachary Cornelisen"We've seen these massive increase in costs, and all these bills, and the pay has just gone backwards."Tara, who was also striking in Wellington today, said her colleagues deserved to feel valued for the work they do."The country needs public servants putting forward the evidence and helping the decisions that get made. We stand for evidence-based decision-making."Tara said the pay offer her colleagues had received was insulting.She said uncertainty in the public service affected the mood in Wellington, which underwent public sector job cuts last year."People are thinking about having to replace cars that have died, having to replace their homes' ... leaking bathrooms and leaking bedrooms and they don't have any security in order to make those decisions that families across the region and across New Zealand are having to make."Paige Connell Culver, an MBIE worker, was one of 200 people striking at Te Komititanga Square in Auckland Central.She said the pay offer they received would mean they were better off next year, but in the following years they were being asked to take an effective pay cut.She said her colleagues were already making difficult sacrifices.PSA national secretary Duane Leo said many of the workers represented by the union earned between $65,000 and $75,000 a year.He said the largest group striking was immigration officers, most of whom earned about $70,000."People aren't asking for large sums of money or exorbitant amounts. We're simply saying to survive, to live out there at the moment, you need to meet us in terms of cost-of-living payments, and they're not doing that."Leo said the union had repeatedly raised concerns about the cost of living during negotiations.Numerous workers and union delegates told RNZ that the cost of living had taken a toll on workers.RNZ/Zachary Cornelisen"We're very much getting to a tipping point here. And the reality is, these agencies, as well as a number of others we represent, have been bargaining for months."In a statement, Public Service Minister Paul Goldsmith said while the PSA had a right to strike, he did not agree with its approach.He said the union was running an active campaign to "change the government" and argued New Zealanders would be inconvenienced by what he described as a broader political campaign.Goldsmith said public servants had received significant pay increases under the previous Labour government, while the current government had continued with more modest increases.PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said members were insulted at the government's attitude.She said the union would prefer to be bargaining in good faith and was hoping today's strike will prompt the government to pick up the phone.See how Wednesday's strike unfolded below: