Steelworker unions have been in discussions with BlueScope for almost a year to create a new agreement.

There has been several sticking points in the negotiations which are the first since the 2015 steel crisis, when workers accepted cuts to pay and conditions to help keep the steelworks open.

With BlueScope recording a record $1.5 billion profit, steelworkers have felt the company could be more generous with its offer.

A steelworker at the Port Kembla plant said there was “white hot anger” about the latest company offer.

“It’s definitely a hot topic of conversation around the steelworks, and it has been for a little while,” he said.

“People are really, really angry. In 2015 when we nearly lost the steelworks, the anger now compared to then is a lot worse.”

The workers are in a period where they can take protected industrial action, which they have been doing for several months.

That has taken the form of a series of rolling stoppages through the plant but, when workers meet on Tuesday to discuss the new offer, that could escalate.

“It’s definitely going to increase, my feeling is it’s going to increase dramatically,” the steelworker said.

He added that it was “quite possible” the Tuesday meeting could see a call for a mass strike at Port Kembla.

“All the options are on the table,” he said.

One of the recent sticking points in negotiations has been the company’s plan to allow workers to join a profit share plan to offset a reduced pay offer.

This was rejected by the workers because there was no guarantee of a bonus being paid each year.

In response, the company upped its pay offer from 7.5 per cent over three years to 9 per cent.

But the new sticking point is over the company’s desire to change the way superannuation has been calculated.

A Federal Court decision went against the company, finding that weekend rates and other penalties had to be taken into account when calculating superannuation.

The company had been looking to remove superannuation from the agreement but has since chosen to add a clause restricting super calculations to a worker’s base pay.

The steelworker said it was disappointing that it had taken almost a year to get to this point.

“We’ve been talking with the company for 11 months,” he said.

“To get to this point is really frustrating – it’s taken 11 months to get to a dog’s breakfast.”

BlueScope was contacted but declined to comment.