Meat-plant workers laid off because of the farmers' blockade may seek compensation for loss of earnings from the Exchequer, funded by the proceeds of the £500,000 fine imposed on the IFA.
That will be one of the options on the table today when SIPTU shop stewards, representing a majority of the 3,000 workers laid off, meet in Dublin.
SIPTU believes the workers could stake a claim for compensation from the £500,000 in fines which the IFA already owes for continuing blockades in breach of a High Court order.
At the end of the calendar year any revenue generated by fines and fees in excess of that estimated at the start of the year is returned to the Exchequer.
A SIPTU regional secretary, Mr Jack O'Connor, said another option for consideration included pursuing the meat plants for compensation. This would involve going through industrial relations mechanisms and would likely be a protracted affair. They could pursue the IFA for compensation, but Mr O'Connor believed his members would be reluctant to take this option as it would involve further divisiveness between workers and farmers.
The SIPTU industrial secretary, Mr John Kane, estimated that when bonuses and overtime payments were included, meatplant workers received £300 a week.
There was no processing at the major plants yesterday as the Irish Meat Association honoured an undertaking to cease activity for 48 hours "to allow for a cooling-off period".
Pickets continued at processing plants yesterday afternoon, despite the IFA's apology to the High Court earlier in the day.
A spokesman for Goodman International confirmed that pickets remained at all nine of its plants. The firm laid off 1,500 workers last week.