Employers have seized on union-aligned Maurice Blackburn’s shutout of its lawyers over a historic billing ban to douse an ACTU campaign against lockout powers in industrial disputes, while unionists branded the law firm’s response a “low act”.

Maurice Blackburn will refuse to pay its lawyers on Thursday in response to their historic ban on billing legal work to support a 15 per cent pay rise and has directed them not to log in to work systems or check emails.