Bluescope Steel employees blocked the main entrance to the steelworks for more than an hour this morning as part of an ongoing dispute over working conditions.
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More than 300 steelworkers from three unions staged a mass meeting outside the gates in the first combined protected industrial action of the ongoing industrial campaign.
Negotiations between BlueScope and the unions over a new enterprise agreement have stalled.
Frustrated workers at this morning’s rally voted unanimously to continue rolling stoppages, condemn the company, and to seek a further meeting with BlueScope to try and resolve the dispute.
Their major issues relate to conditions that union members say have been hard fought and won over many years and which the company now wants to remove.
Sticking points include extended sick leave provisions and maintaining individual departmental agreements in the new award.
‘‘All we’re trying to do is maintain our current conditions,’’ Australian Workers' Union Port Kembla branch secretary Wayne Phillips said.
‘‘We gave up some of our pay increase last agreement ... to settle for a better sick leave overall policy.’’
Read more in Saturday's Mercury
