Century Union workers ready to negotiate deal again; dates not yet fixed

Union workers that are locked out of the Century Aluminium say they want to restart negotiations however no dates have yet been fixed.

President of the United Steelworkers Local 9423, Andy Meserve says they want a deal not a lock out, representing more than 560 locked out workers at the smelter.

Century spokesperson, Kenny Barkley said on Tuesday that they were "committed to the bargaining process" and the last offer made to the workers still stands in case they want to reconsider it,

Meanwhile, Century has hired some temporary, non-union workers to operate the smelter during the lock out so that there is no disruption in the production.

The company has already made three offers to the workers over the course of six weeks of negotiation after the expiration of the previous five-year contact in March. However the workers have rejected all of them till now as the health insurance and wages offered were not satisfactory according to them.