Locked out workers from the Port Kembla Coal Terminal (PKCT) took their protests to the Russell Vale Coal mine on Thursday, stirred by reports worldwide head of Wollongong Coal parent company Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) was visiting.
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With Wollongong Coal among the owners of the terminal, about 30 PKCT workers protested on the edge of the Princes Hwy, hoping to tell Jindal leadership that it was time to intervene in their long-running dispute with their employer.
Leading staff had come from the Wongawilli mine to meet the Indian leadership of JPSL, rumoured to include the billionaire company founder - and former Indian MP - Naveen Jindal.
The workers wanted to escalate their protests after being again locked out for nine days by PKCT ownership, South Coast Labor Council secretary Arthur Rorris said.
"We warned several weeks ago that if these multinational companies want to take on the whole community in four different areas, you would get an escalation," he said.
"It ain't a pleasure cruise for them either. Their interests are being hit. Let's resolve this before they get hit harder as well.
"Our big industries are all embroiled in industrial disputes at the moment. If they want to make something genuine as an offer, it will be considered."
Mr Rorris said the Jindal group should get involved because South32, which runs the terminal on behalf of the ownership consortium, was "screwing" the coal mines by preventing their products being exported.
But was their quarry actually inside the boundaries of the colliery?
At one stage a BMW sedan emerged from the mine site, driven by Wollongong Coal company secretary Sanjay Sharma. His passenger was not identified. It returned soon afterwards.
There was no sign of the dark Bentley which had been favoured by the company's chairmen, from Arun Jagatramka to Milind Oza.
Whether Naveen Jindal was there, or just his lieutenants, remained unclear.
Phone calls to the mine office went unanswered. Wollongong Coal has not responded to requests for comment.
Attempts to track Mr Jindal view his Twitter account have also proved inconclusive. He tweeted on Thursday morning about his success at a recent polo tournament, where he was named the most valuable player - perhaps suggesting he could not be in Australia.
But when it was discovered the match had been played three days earlier, Mr Jindal could still have flown to Australia afterwards.
Counting earlier lockouts and strike action, when this latest lockout ends, workers would not have done a shift for 38 days.
