SIPTU members at a company in Co Kildare have today threatened to take strike action over a redundancy deal they have called "derisory".
Employees at Peerless Rugs in Athy Co Kildare issued the warning in response to a severance package offered by management following an announcement last month that the factory would have to let go of 65 personnel.
Mr Michael Dowling, Secretary of SIPTU’s Athy Branch said the severance offer amounted to nothing more than the employee’s statutory entitlement.
He said it was unsatisfactory and did not reflect the commitment of the staff to the company.
"Each of our members have given an average of 27 years of their life to this company and they deserve a better deal", he said.
Mr Dowling told ireland.comthat Athy was an unemployment blackspot - the last factory having arrived in the area 15 years ago - and said "we are looking for as much as we can get because most of these people won't work again".
The redundancies are due to be completed by the end of July, but Mr Dowling said SIPTU are hoping to gain the support of Peerless Rugs’ sister companies in Cork and Mountmellick tomorrow for their threatened action.
A Peerless Rugs representative was unavailable for comment.