Telstra workers will strike after negotiations with the company's management over enterprise bargaining agreements reached a deadlock, the communications union says.

The Communications, Electrical, Plumbing Union (CEPU) on Wednesday said that the telco giant was trying to punish employees who wanted a union-negotiated workplace agreement by offering them less pay.

"(Telstra) is waging war on its employees by offering only a pathetic pay rise over three years and refusing to allow its employees to have access to arbitration for fair treatment," the union's president Len Cooper said.

In response, Telstra workers have voted to start ongoing industrial action from Friday.

Mr Cooper said the strike would disrupt maintenance and installation of high-tech services, communication systems, internet and computer services, particularly for corporate and government customers.

It may also impact upon the telephone and data network transmission systems throughout Australia, he said.