And now he thinks it’s time the company gave some of that back.

Three years ago, Mr Turner and other workers at BlueScope agreed to a three-year wage freeze and also gave up conditions – including weekend sick leave at penalty rates – to help BlueScope weather the downturn in the steel industry.

On Tuesday, as negotiations on a new deal reached a stalemate, workers walked off the job for four hours – the first strike at the steelworks since 2012.

“It’s clearly not unreasonable to ask for a  small pay raise in light of the massive bonuses that they’re paying their staff,” Mr Turner said.

READ MORE: Port Kembla workers consider strike action

“We haven’t had a pay rise in four years – we’d like to get a decent share this time.”

The Australian Workers Union (AWU) is asking for a 10 per cent pay increase over three years and a return of some other provisions.

The company, which announced a $1.5 billion profit last month, has offered 7.5 per cent over three years and penalty rates on sick leave after the eighth day.

The company offer also includes participation in a profit share plan, where they would get a bonus if targets were reached.

A BlueScope spokesman described the plan as a way for workers “to share in the success of the company without jeopardising our future”.

However, Mr Turner said he was opposed to the plan because there was no guarantee a bonus would be paid each year. 

“We need a wage rise that’s built into our weekly salary so we can pay everything,” Mr Turner said.

“A bonus will come and go, a wage rise will stay forever.”

The AWU national secretary Daniel Walton said negotiations with the company were “bogged down”.

“We’ve been negotiating with BlueScope now for several months and, despite bumper profits going to the company, we haven’t been able to see a fair share coming through to the workers here,” Mr Walton said.

While workers had approved further industrial action, Mr Walton was hoping it wouldn’t come to that.

“We really want to avoid that, we really want to avoid a situation where we’re taking long amounts of industrial action,” he said.

A BlueScope spokesman said the company was “disappointed” workers went on strike.

“We think the best way forward is to continue discussions to resolve the issues as opposed to strike action which disrupts our customers and undermines our competitive position and future,” the spokesman said.

“We will continue to work closely with our employees and their union representatives to resolve the matter as soon as possible.”