IMPACT has warned the Minister for Agriculture that if he lays off meat graders at meat plants, the union would place pickets on the factories.
Mr Yates's lay off threat was made in Clare yesterday where he claimed some of the workers involved had done no work this week but were on full pay.
"Without an iota of provocation, I have to say if they do riot return to work, and there is no progress, I will have no choice but to lay them off from next Monday," he said.
Mr Yates, who was speaking at the Agricultural Science Association Conference in Clare, had appealed to the 350 graders who are refusing to process meat for EU intervention and EU export refunds, to end their dispute because it could do "serious damage" to the industry.
Last night, the union's general secretary, Mr Paddy Keating, said if his members were laid off, the union would place pickets on the meat factories. Laying off staff, he said, would inevitably lead to plant closures.
Mr Keating also rejected the Minister's claim of talks between the two sides. He said there were informal contacts but no direct contact.
Mr Yates said that without prejudice to the rights and wrongs of the situation, the damage being done to the beef industry was out of proportion to the issues in the dispute.
He added that any solution to the conflict, which has been caused by the reintroduction of EU intervention, could only be solved in the context of the Programme for Competitiveness and Work.
Mr Yates said this was the busiest time of the year for meat plants and the continuation of the dispute into next week could mean that plants might not tender for intervention from next Tuesday, which would involve 30,000 animals.