A consultative conference of the trade union Unite has voted unanimously to recommend rejection of the proposed national pay deal in a forthcoming ballot of members.
Irish regional secretary of Unite Jimmy Kelly said that the proposed agreement, negotiated by the social partners last month, failed to deliver on pay.
He said the proposal "stacked-up to a pay cut".
Mr Kelly said that workers could be left at a loss of 2.5 per cent as a result of the last pay agreement and the new proposal had failed to match inflation.
"This draft agreement fails to deliver on pay, it virtually ignores the lowest paid, it totally ignores the right to union representation and it totally ignores the plight of the one million Irish workers who have no second-tier pensions," Mr Kelly said.
He said workers could "do at least as well if they engaged in free collective bargaining with their employer".
