Australians are being urged to boycott some of their favourite ice creams after a breakdown in negotiations between Streets workers and the company's owner Unilever.

Unilever has applied to Fair Work Australia to terminate the current enterprise agreement, which the unions say could leave 140 workers at the Streets factory in Minto, NSW, with a pay cut of up to 46 per cent.

Streets produces ice creams including Paddle Pops, Cornetto, Magnum and Golden Gaytime.

Steve Murphy from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said the only way to make Unilever listen was to hit them where it hurts.

The AWU says Streets factory workers will be hit with a pay cut of up to 46 per cent. ( Flickr: Istolethetv )

"The Australian public, when they go into the local shop or the local servo deciding which type of ice cream they're going to buy that makes them feel good, they want to know that the workers that have made that product are being treated fairly," he said.

"And we think that the Australian public will make that choice between supporting workers in struggle or supporting corporate greed."

An in-principle agreement with the unions was reached after 16 months of negotiations but was ultimately voted down by employees.

Mr Murphy said the company has now gone for the "nuclear option" and workers need the public's support.

"If you're running an ice cream factory during an Australian summer you can't lose money — it's a very profitable site," he said.

"These workers are left with no other option because Unilever has stopped listening, but to seek the support of the Australian public."

Unilever responds

The general manager of ice cream at Unilever Australia, Anthony Toovey, rejected the claim workers could lose half their wages.

"We want to keep making Streets locally but the current situation is just not sustainable and needs to be addressed," he said.

"If anyone has their finger on the nuclear button here is it the union and all a boycott will do is hurt workers and local manufacturing."

Unilever Australia's Anthony Toovey says the Minto factory lacks the flexibility needed for a seasonal business ( ABC News: Jean Kennedy )

Unilever said the Minto factory lacked the flexibility needed for a seasonal business and was too costly to run.

"It is currently 30 per cent cheaper to import a Magnum from Europe, including 16,000 kilometres of frozen transport, rather than make it at Minto," Mr Toovey said.

"If the union doesn't want Streets to become the next Holden or Ford they need to shelve their calls for a boycott."

Voices on the street

After working at the Minto factory for 18 years, Michelle Parkin said many of her fellow workers and families would suffer if the negotiations failed.

"If Unilever are successful in doing this they will devastate many workers and their families and they'll actually lose homes over this," she said.

"It's completely un-Australian and it's not how we do it here."

Streets ice cream worker Troy Gardiner with his wife Kathleen and kids Lilian and Stanley. ( ABC News: Jean Kennedy )

With two young children aged five and two, Troy Gardiner said he was among those worried about being potentially out of a home.

"I have a young family and like every other Australian I have a mortgage that I struggle to pay," he said.

"If Unilever terminate our agreement potentially I will break my promise to my wife and my children that I will be able to provide for them."

Lance Wilson — who has been at the factory 19 years — said he was driven by similar warnings from his fellow workers.

"These people are like second family to me and the possibility of them losing their homes is unethical and immoral," he said.