Wavin said today it would cut a quarter of its Irish workforce because of the decline in the construction sector.
The news comes just two weeks after Wavin issued a profit warning on the back of concerns about the housing market in Ireland and Britain.
Wavin, Europe's biggest maker of plastic pipes for sewers, has 198 employees at its site in Balbriggan in north Dublin, and today's announcement suggests that up to 50 jobs could be lost.
Sales in the second half of the year in Britain and Ireland fell 3.4 per cent to €216 million, the company reported at the start of March.
Siptu branch organiser Michelle Quinn said she was meeting Wavin management next week over the proposed restructuring at the company.
The company employs almost 7,000 staff in 28 countries.