Staff represented by Siptu at Lufthansa-owned Shannon Aerospace have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action, including strike, in pursuit of outstanding national deal pay claims.

In response to Siptu voting for industrial action, the company spokeswoman said: "Any industrial action will undermine the company and the livelihoods of everyone who works in Shannon Aerospace. Already, just the threat of industrial action has seen one major customer withdraw business."

The company is one of the biggest employers in the midwest, employing almost 800 people, and the company's recently published accounts show a steady decline in profits.

In 2002, the company recorded a net profit of €12.58 million compared to the €747,000 profit for 2005 when a dividend of €5.76 million was paid out of retained earnings.

The company spokeswoman pointed out that the company and union had been to the Labour Court, and while the company had accepted last month's court recommendation, Siptu rejected it.

She said: "The issue here is that the company requires cost offsets to enable it to pay the last two phases of the national agreement Sustaining Progress. An independent assessor examined the company's accounts in detail and reported last January that "in all these circumstances I believe that the company is entitled to and needs off-setting costs".

"The subsequent Labour Court recommendation stated 'that the parties should enter into discussions as outlined in the conclusion of the assessor's report and take a balanced approach towards agreeing cost-offsetting measures in return for payment of the increases due under Sustaining Progress'. It was this that Siptu rejected."

However, a Siptu spokesperson said: "Staff believe it is outrageous that a company which is in the healthy state shown by its accounts should seek to, in effect, reduce the pay of the people who create that profit."

She said that the final two phases of the Sustaining Progress agreement represented a 4 per cent increase in workers' pay, which in the majority of cases amounts to a €20 increase per week.

The spokeswoman said that there has been no communication between Siptu and Shannon Aerospace since the results of the ballot were published last Friday.