More than 200 workers at Cadbury's plant in Coolock in Dublin have gone on strike this morning.

SIPTU and UNITE say they are taking the action in a row over the company's plans to outsource 17 jobs at the facility.

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SIPTU and UNITE their strike over outsourcing will halt chocolate production #Coolock #Cadburys pic.twitter.com/FI9bbHQiE2

— Deirdre Farrelly (@Farrellydee) March 3, 2016

Mondelez, the company which owns Cadbury's, has said the plans are aimed at strengthening the firm to secure its future and that the affected staff have been accommodated elsewhere.

“Well, the company put us in a position where we had no other action to take,” said one worker. “Seventeen jobs, we believe, are core to the factory.”

The unions have said the strike will bring the production of chocolate to a halt at the factory.

Update 12.50pm: "The company currently has no plans to outsource any other positions from the Coolock plant," it said in a brief statement.

The strike at Cadbury's is just the latest in a series of industrial disputes around the country.

Work stoppages are also planned by Luas and DART workers in Dublin who are arguing over pay and conditions.

President of the SIPTU trade union, Jack O'Connor, is blaming the last Government for the current industrial unrest.

“The majority party in the outgoing Government wouldn’t hear of structured social dialogue, the employers walked away from it, they don’t seem to want it, and people in the trade union movement are quite happy to have the freedom to exercise what leverage they can and negotiate what increases they can and what improvements they can to recover ground that was lost in the years immediately after the collapse.”