Union representatives for Dunnes Stores staff claim that workers have been threatened with redundancies and layoffs if they go on strike.
Workers have balloted for industrial action, and the results of the ballot will become known this afternoon.
The dispute centres around pay and conditions, and the Mandate union have said that Dunnes management has refused to engage with them to discuss these issues.
Gerry Light, Mandate’s Assistant General Secretary, has said that “Three weeks ago, management wrote to each individual worker, clearly stating that in the event of industrial action taking place, it would inevitably lead to layoffs and redundancies.”