LONDON, England (CNN) -- More than six hundred workers at Total's Lindsey oil refinery in Northern England have been told they no longer have jobs after staging what the company calls an "unofficial, illegal walk out." Protesters gathered outside Total's Lindsey oil refinery on Friday, June 19, after hundreds of striking workers were sacked. The steel workers started striking last Thursday after one contractor axed 51 jobs while another employer on the same site was recruiting. Protesters gathered outside Total's Lindsey oil refinery Friday with placards calling for solidarity from fellow workers. The dispute has prompted a number of wildcat strikes at power stations and oil refineries around the United Kingdom.
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NEW: Total says the workers' employers and ACAS are in negotiations
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Hundreds of striking workers at Total oil refinery told to reapply for their jobs
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Dispute started after 51 workers were axed, while another company was hiring
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Strike prompted walk outs at four power stations, three refineries in the UK
They returned to work after the unions and the company gave assurances that half the jobs would go to @placeholder workers.