Newcastle's 15 pilots are employed by the state-owned Newcastle Port Corporation on a base salary of $189,000 but superannuation and performance pay take their earnings to a typical $230,000.

Their union, the Australian Maritime Officers Union, is seeking court approval for a ballot to run strike action and bans in the Port of Newcastle.

The pilots steer visiting ships in and out of the port and the specialised nature of their work means that coal exports would stop without their involvement.

Union spokesman Michael Fleming said Ports Minister Joe Tripodi had asked the pilots to take a pay freeze for the good of the State Government's finances but Mr Fleming said there was no way his members would accept such an unrealistic demand.

"These are some of the most highly skilled people in the Australian maritime industry, they are in chronic shortage and in Newcastle they are paid less than in virtually every other port, including Sydney, the Queensland coal ports and the WA iron ore ports," Mr Fleming said.

"People may wonder at the amount they are paid but they are no different to airline pilots or the emergency specialists that the Government has just given a 25 per cent pay increase to."

Mr Fleming said Newcastle had traditionally been on parity with Sydney, where pilots were paid a base rate of $219,000 and a typical package of $320,000.

He said the Newcastle pilots wanted another $40,000 a year, or $800 a week.

Port corporation chief executive Gary Webb said yesterday that the Government's pay policies limited pay increases to 2.5 per cent a year plus productivity trade-offs.