STEELWORKERS on Teesside will learn their fate today as union officials meet Corus directors in the hope that a rescue package to save jobs will be accepted.

The officials and the workers are waiting to see whether the package will be accepted - saving 1,100 jobs on Teesside facing the axe following a restructuring programme announced by the company last month.

The package involves keeping the coil plate mill at Lackenby open for another 12 months on a reduced shift system while the industry improves and the value of the pound continues to come down against the euro.

Although union leaders remain cautiously optimistic that the package will be accepted, it is widely expected that it will be turned down.

The company has indicated that the proposal does not offer any solution it has not already considered