The head of SIPTU says he believes industrial action is inevitable amid growing anger over the Government's handling of the recession.
SIPTU is one of the country's biggest unions with over 200,000 members.
'We suspended a campaign of action last March,' Jack O'Connor said on Morning Ireland. 'We were actually, as is now quite clear, suckered into a talks process which went on all summer in a desperate effort to avoid all of this.
'We find ourselves (now) with very little option.'
IMPACT, which is Ireland's largest public sector union, has started balloting 55,000 members for strike action if the Government imposes compulsory redundancies, cuts working hours or pay or reduces pensions.
The result of the vote, which needs a two-thirds majority, will be known by 21 October.
'Our members don't want strikes or the disruption they will bring, but if they don't make a stand it's clear that the Government will be back to slash their incomes again and again,' Peter McLoone, general secretary of IMPACT, said in a statement.
IMPACT balloted members for industrial action in March after Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan introduced a levy on public sector pensions but fell short of the required level of support.
This time around, the union is confident of winning the required endorsement.
The executive council of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the labour movement's umbrella organisation with 650,000 members, will meet on Wednesday to finalise proposals for a campaign of protest.
'Our talks with government have not produced anything,' said Congress General Secretary David Begg. 'Congress therefore sees no alternative but to mobilise its membership in a campaign of sustained opposition.'
