Uncertainty hangs over the future of the Galtee meat plant in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, after workers overwhelmingly rejected a cost-cutting plan put forward by Dairygold management.
The workers had been told by the company to accept the plan, which involved capping the annual wages bill at €3.8 million to prevent a sell-off of the factory.
The 160 staff at the pig-processing plant, owned by Dairygold, have already gone through a major downsizing with the loss of pig-slaughtering at the site, which cost 140 jobs.
The proposal would have stipulated one standard rate of pay, €9 per hour, and required a 12 per cent increase in productivity.
The company also offered to buy out some work practices in exchange for a one-off payment of €540,000 in compensation.
Locals in Mitchelstown believe there is a possibility the plant could be put up for sale as early as next week.
A meeting of Siptu staff took place on Thursday after workers received a letter from management saying it would seek to sell the plant if agreement was not reached.
The company has the alternative of outsourcing the pigmeat-processing. Since the cutbacks the co-op has stopped slaughtering at the company's Mitchelstown plant and now buys its raw materials for the Galtee, Shaws and Roscrea brands.
A spokesman for the company said it was disappointed at the outcome of the meeting and because the workers had not responded to the need to bring costs into line with competitors it would have to consider selling.
"The cost base in relation to our competitors is too high and we will have to look at all the alternatives now," he said.
Dairygold has shed 1,000 jobs over the last year since new chief executive Jerry Henchy took over.