Greyhound workers have rejected new proposals aimed at ending the pay row at the bin company. Bosses and unions went to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) to try and hammer out a deal last week.

According to SIPTU, the workers - who have been locked out of the company depots in west Dublin since mid-June - rejected an offer which included substantial pay cuts and redundancy terms.

"SIPTU members rejected the offer which included new conditions of employment and a 31% pay cut for those who wished to return to work," Owen Reidy  of SIPTU said.

"The offer also included statutory redundancy plus 1.5 weeks per year of service. For those who returned to work a compensation of 30% of the redundancy package was on offer. One of the reasons for the rejection was the distrust of the employer who has reneged on previous agreements. There was no guarantee that even this inadequate offer would be honoured if it was accepted by the workers," he added.

Greyhound has expressed deep disappointment at the decision by workers to reject the latest settlement proposals.

In a statement, the company announced they will now go to the High Court to seek enforcement orders to ensure "the law of the land is upheld."

They stated: "Greyhound has been reluctant to take this path but it has a duty to protect the jobs of all its 400 employees and ensure that our 140,000 household customers continue to have their bins collected."

Director of Greyhound, Michael Buckely, says 78 workers are jeopardising 400 jobs.