Up to 120 permanent and temporary lay-offs have been announced at two separate food companies in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
Fair Oak Foods, a meat processing company involved in slaughtering and deboning animals at Upper Irishtown in Clonmel, has extended a seasonal shutdown resulting in the temporary lay-off of 50 people for the next eight to 10 weeks.
SIPTU has warned that a further 50 contract workers, many of them immigrants, will also be laid-off for the period.
The company says the potential exists for the redeployment of up to 30 staff at its facility on the Royal Oak Road in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow but the union is fearful for the future of the Clonmel plant, which employs around 150 people.
Fair Oak Foods have selling agents in Indonesia, Russia, Holland, Belgium and Scotland.
Meanwhile, 17 full-time jobs are being shed at Manor Produce in Clonmel. The company, which employs 26 people, supplies bulk products for the pet food sector.