A strike by maintenance technicians at a Kerry Group-owned plant in Co Monaghan is to go ahead on Monday after talks ended without agreement.
Members of the Technical, Electrical and Engineering Union (TEEU) are to picket Rye Valley Foods in Carrickmacross in a row over a temporary closure of the plant. The union represents 31 of the 700 workers at the plant, which makes prepacked meals for major supermarket chains.
The company says the week-long closure, to begin on Monday, is necessary to realign stock levels and allow for the installation of new equipment. It says workers were consulted about the move in advance. The TEEU, however, said there were no negotiations with the union.
It held four hours of talks with management in Dublin on Thursday, at which the company offered to bring some TEEU members in for a day's training during next week.
TEEU regional secretary Arthur Hall claimed the offer was "derisory" and came nowhere near meeting the workers' demand that they be allowed to work normally.
Siptu, which represents the majority of workers at the plant, has accepted the move as "the lesser of three evils", given that alternatives offered by the company were unacceptable.
