A meeting was held on Thursday following prolonged industrial action after unions rejected an offer they said would leave workers worse off than other employees at comparable Illawarra operations.

Yesterday, a Peabody spokeswoman said negotiations were continuing, and the company was attempting to work with ‘‘bargaining representatives’’.

Peabody’s Helensburgh Metropolitan Colliery workers returned to work on Tuesday after striking over the long weekend.

The action came after nearly 200 workers walked off the job for 48 hours the previous week, following three days of bans on production and limitations by the mine’s workforce.

At the time, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union said the new agreement proposed by Peabody would freeze employees’ pay increases, potentially putting their wages more than 20 per cent behind other operations in the region.

The Peabody Energy spokeswoman said the company had been ‘‘disappointed’’ the workforce had pursued industrial action.

‘‘We remain committed to continuing discussions with the bargaining representatives and workforce,’’ she said. 

The Mercury contacted the mining  union yesterday but  it  did not respond before print deadline.