Management and union representatives at food company Dairygold have referred the issue of redundancies at the company to the Labour Relations Commission for conciliation on Monday.
Earlier, the main union at Dairygold rejected management proposals for 500 job cuts to be implemented by the end of the year.
SIPTU, which represents the vast majority of the 3,200 Dairygold employees, has accused the company of a breach of faith.
The union says it was in the middle of negotiations with management on a rationalisation programme for the company when the job cuts were announced to staff yesterday.
Dairygold had told staff that unless it receives enough applications by next Monday to implement 500 voluntary redundancies, it will enforce compulsory redundancies from December 17.
SIPTU branch secretary John Cooney told RTE news this afternoon that the proposals announced by the company yesterday were not acceptable now and would not be acceptable in the future. He said the company had told the union that the proposals were non-negotiable.
