Workers at Waterford Crystal are seeking a meeting with the Taoiseach to ask for government intervention to prevent the end of manufacturing at the world-renowned crystal plant.
Speaking after a specially-convened union meeting in Waterford city this evening, regional organiser Water Cullen said 760 workers in total now face the prospect of unemployment.
He said union members rejected the company's plan to extend a programme of redundancy to a further 280 workers and would be seeking a meeting with the Taoiseach to discuss the matter.
The union and company will be entering negotiations on the terms of the plan from tomorrow.
Waterford Crystal said earlier today it had told workers about its plans to lay off another 280 people at its plant in Kilbarry in the city, ending large-scale manufacturing at the plant.
The company told workers it would continue to make some hand-crafted crystal products in Waterford, and would also keep its tourist trail and gallery business.
The chief financial officer of parent company Waterford Wedgwood, Anthony Jones, said it had become clear that maintaining manufacturing in Ireland at its current level was not feasible. Under a restructuring plan announced late last year, 490 people were already due to leave the company.
