Unemployment in the south of Ireland in February was 12.6 per cent. That’s one worker in five but it’s worse if you are young. One third of the labour force, between the age of 20 and 24, is now unemployed. The figures would be worse if it were not for emigration and government but it’s edging towards 1988’s 16.8 percent.

As this report from the Morning Star suggests, the absence of a serious response from the unions is forcing some workers to take extremely desperate measures.

A third trade unionist is set to join a hunger strike on Wednesday to press bosses at the Green Isle Foods factory in Naas, Ireland, to reinstate three colleagues who were unfairly dismissed.

Shop steward Jim Wyse is entering the third week on hunger strike and John Guinan, a former Offaly All-Ireland footballer, is in his second week.

The men, who are all members of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU), have been on strike for six months over the unfair dismissals.

The hunger strikers took the momentous step after being on the picket line for six months – through one of the worst winters in a memory – and after the company rebuffed the efforts of the Labour Relations Commission, the National Implementation Body and the Labour Court to resolve the dispute.

The only independent body to examine the merits of the dispute is the Labour Court.

It found the dismissals to be unfair and recommended that the men be reinstated and fully reimbursed for lost wages or be paid a total of 160,000 euros (£145,000) in compensation for the loss of their jobs.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions president Jack O’Connor and general secretary David Begg both spoke at a rally in support of the Green Isle Foods workers and hunger strikers in Naas on Saturday.

The rally was organised by the Kildare Council of Trade Unions.

A number of opposition political leaders have expressed their support for the strikers.

Green Isle Foods is a division of the British conglomerate Northern Foods, which has a turnover of more than 1 billion euros (£900m) and recently declared that its annual profits were up 8.9 per cent to £53m.

Among its best-known brands are Goodfellas and San Marco pizzas and Green Isle vegetables.

It also produces a number of own-brand products for supermarket chains in Britain.