THE Salvation Army faces the unusual prospect of a strike from midday today with community employees in Sunshine set to walk off the job for two hours as part of a pay dispute.

Australian Services Union assistant branch secretary Lisa Darmanin said it would be the first time in Victoria that community service workers at the Salvation Army had taken industrial action. She said the dispute was over pay and conditions.

In a recent ballot, 50 staff at the Salvation Army's Westcare arm, which is based in Sunshine, voted on a number of forms of industrial action including bans on overtime, eight-hour strikes and bans on reporting data to the Department of Human Services.

Salvation Army spokesman Bram Cassidy said it would continue to talk with the union. ''The Salvation Army has and continues to participate in good-faith bargaining,'' he said.

Ms Darmanin said the Salvation Army had ''repeatedly ignored'' requests to improve workplace conditions and had reduced job conditions to bring them in line with the new modern award.

''Two-and-a-half years of silence is no way to treat your staff,'' she said. Westcare is involved in the placement and support services for children and young people.

BEN SCHNEIDERS