Workers were due to return to the terminal last Saturday for the first time in two weeks, due to an earlier seven-day lockout which was followed by a seven-day strike by the workers.

However on Friday afternoon, PKCT locked out the workers for another six days.

“In the face of escalating disruption and a refusal by the union to accept the company’s request for a short moratorium on further industrial unrest, PKCT has no choice but to inform striking employees not to return to work for six days,” a PKCT statement said.

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) district vice president Bob Timbs said there had been no such request for a halt to further action.

Mr Timbs said the workers had not planned to take any action during that time.

“I’m the key point for contact with the company,” Mr Timbs said.

“Generally what would happen is they would at least write to us and say ‘hey, we want to start renegotiating the agreement’; there’s been none of that.

“The only formal notice that we’ve had is the formal notice of lockout.”

Mr Timbs said the PKCT management should stop “trying to play this out in the media” and instead sit down and talk to the CFMMEU.

The long-running dispute is fueled by difficulties in negotiating a new enterprise agreement.

Workers are concerned about the company’s desire to remove a clause that stops it from replacing permanent employees with a casual workforce.

The company said it wished to continue negotiations “in good faith”.