SIPTU members at the Liebherr plant in Kerry have rejected a Labour Court recommendation on back pay.

It had proposed the company pay a 2.5 % increase in wages backdated to May of 2012. Management had insisted the pay rise would be subject to changes in work practices.

This vote by some 300 SIPTU members at the container crane company has raised concerns about the future of the plant.

Liebherr had already said it would be forced to consider its future in Killarney following the Labour Court recommendation late last year to award workers the pay rise.

The company said it had already begun sending work to other plants in Germany. Now the workers have rejected that recommendation.

Approximately half of the 670 staff employed at the plant in Fossa are members of SIPTU. A statement on the vote is expected from SIPTU today.

Newstalk's Business Editor Ian Guider says the future of the Killarney plant is at stake.