Last week the group said it would announce the closure of Chromoworks on 26 November if the GPMU hadn't confirmed acceptance of the group's final proposals over redundancy and restructuring by 23 November.

But the GPMU requested more time and a ballot started on Tuesday 27 November and should be concluded by Friday 30 November.

In a letter to GPMU deputy general secretary Tony Burke, which was sent anonymously to PrintWeek, Polestar chief executive Barry Hibbert said it was "deeply regrettable" that such a position had been reached, but added that "the circumstances leave us no other option".

Polestar had outlined its final proposals to the union in a letter sent on 16 November and held a group board meeting on 19 November to discuss progress.

Burke has continually said that talks with the company were "delicate" over the 32 job losses from the 129-strong shopfloor workforce that Polestar had proposed in October (PrintWeek, 5 October).

He said: "I am disappointed that somebody has circulated to the press the contents of a letter that at this stage is still the subject of discussions between our members, the union and Polestar.

"For two months now we have been attempting to reach an agreement with Polestar. These negotiations have proved extremely difficult and at times complex. It has always been uppermost in the minds of the national and branch officers dealing with the issue to protect employment at Chromoworks."

When Polestar proposed the job losses it said Chromoworks had been experiencing serious trading difficulties.

It wanted to move the site from a four-shift working pattern over six days to a three-shift pattern over five days.

Of the 32 redundancies, 20 were planned for the presshall, with the rest spread across the pre-press, forklift, maintenance, supervisory and administration departments.

Story by Gordon Carson