Negotiators for Cincinnati Specialties in St. Bernard and Teamsters Local 661 returned to the bargaining table Thursday after union members rejected a company contract proposal.

        A spokesman for the company, which makes organic chemicals for the pharmaceutical and flavor industries, didn't return a call for comment Thursday.

        But a union spokesman said both sides returned to the bargaining table after union members rejected a second contract proposal Wednesday night.

        The union, which represents 85 production workers at the plant at 501 Murray Road, said the company locked workers out of the plant Sunday night after the union rejected the company's earlier proposal. Union members said the plant was continuing to operate with management personnel.

        The union spokesman said a three-year contract expired Nov. 18, but the union agreed to a contract extension, which expired last weekend.

        The Murray Road plant dates to the early 1900s. In 1967, Sherwin Williams Co. acquired the business and sold it in 1985 to PMC Inc., a privately held California company.

        The company's products include high-intensity sweeteners such as saccharin and corrosion inhibitors and other chemicals.

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