The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) is to mount a campaign demanding 5% pay rises for its members.
The union - which represents around 40,000 workers in both the public and private sectors - are holding their annual conference in Kilkenny this weekend.
Speaking there, General Secretary Eamon Devoy said water charge protests reflect anger over growing inequality in Irish society.
He says the TEEU will also be looking for companies to roll back on any cost-saving concessions their members made during the downturn.
"We've just come out of a recession, we're in a free collective bargaining situation,
"The employers, IBEC, and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions have a protocol as to how those negotiations can take place on a company-by-company basis and we do intend to pursue pay increases for our members and we also intend to pursue concessions that out members may have conceded during the recession."