Striking Gama workers today unanimously rejected return-to-work proposals put forward by management through the Labour Relations Commission.
At a meeting at Liberty Hall in Dublin this afternoon to discuss the proposals, the Siptu National Industrial Secretary Noel Dowling said the workers have an absolute and complete distrust of Gama management.
"Workers described the level of distrust between them and management. They are afraid of being broken up into smaller working units which they allege would leave them open to intimidation and harassment."
"They want the institutions of the State to continue their investigation into Gama and they want to be able to give evidence about their pay and conditions.
Mr Dowling said he now expected the Labour Court to get involved in trying to resolve the dispute.
The rejected proposals came after five hours of talks at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) yesterday. In them the company had agreed to overtime issues before this weekend if the workers agree to return to work.
Gama had also given assurances to the LRC that workers would be retained by the company until their contracts expire in August and October.
In a statement this evening the company accused SIPTU of sabotaging attempts to strike a deal.
The company said union officials had prejudiced the outcome of the ballot on the LRC proposals by encouraging members to vote against them through the media.
The statement from Gama also alleged harassment of workers who refused to join strike action.
"Intimidation against Gama employees who wish to continue working has continued today," the statement said.
"Employees on Gama sites were shadowed by protestors and prevented from gaining unrestricted access to their workplace. Gama has written to SIPTU demanding an end to this intimidation."
Gama also claimed that SIPTU had adopted coercive action in a bid to force the company into an unjustified settlement.
More than 300 Gama employees had initiated a strike over pay and overtime but just over 80 of these remain in the country; the rest have returned to Turkey.
Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said the State had to investigate the allegations from the men within a matter of days, not weeks.