Workers who are set to lose their jobs at the Bass Ireland brewing plant in west Belfast are planning a series of strikes to protest at the level of redundancy pay on offer.

Union officials have served notice of the strike plans on the company, which is owned by Interbrew, the world's biggest brewer by volume.

Interbrew said last month that it would close the plant in January with the loss of 65 of the 85 jobs there, following unsuccessful attempts to sell it as a going concern.

The first stoppage will be for 24 hours next Thursday, followed by a further 24-hour strike on the following Monday and escalating to action on Monday and Tuesday of the following week if the issue is not resolved.

"As far as we are concerned, we are looking for a reasonable settlement for our members and we are not prepared to settle for second best," Mr Bill Condit, Northern Ireland district secretary of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (ATGWU), told the Belfast Telegraph yesterday .

Mr Condit said there had been a ballot which had been in favour of industrial action. He said employees were annoyed that local management seemed unwilling to negotiate on the redundancy terms.

An Interbrew statement said it regretted that the union had felt it necessary to take industrial action and that concerns on redundancy packages would be best addressed by negotiation and discussion.

Interbrew said that a much-enhanced redundancy package, "in excess of six times the statutory requirement" has been offered. "Bass Ireland believes that the redundancy package on offer is generous and fair, especially to those employees who have given long service to the company," the statement said.

It said it also noted that offers of redeployment for 14 of those affected have received very little response, as have "offers of overtime to meet production peaks being experienced at this time".

When announcing the plant closure last month, Interbrew said it was closing because of overcapacity in the industry and the loss of a £6 million (€8.83 million) contract to bottle some 40 million bottles of Lucozade a year.

It said there had been initial interest from four parties but negotiations had come to nothing.