Both sides in a dispute at the ESB generating station in Moneypoint Co Clare are to meet for talks tomorrow at the Labour Relations Commission.
The TEEU formally served strike notice today on the ESB and two of its subcontractors, in the dispute over payments to 200 Polish workers employed at the plant.
The workers have not received payments for the past six weeks from a Polish company, ZRE, which is one of the subcontractors involved in a €384m contract at the giant plant.
The company was contracted by the German engineering firm, Lentjes, which is the main contractor employed on the contract.
Talks between the TEEU and ESB management at Moneypoint today failed to resolve the issue and the union has now served formal strike notice on the ESB and its two subcontractors.
It means pickets could be placed on the gates at Moneypoint within a matter of days.
Last night, Polish workers at the plant in Co Clare voted unanimously for action in a ballot held by the TEEU.
Lentjes, the company contracted by the ESB to work on the Moneypoint Power station, terminated its contract with a Polish based sub-contractor, ZRE, working on the site last Friday.
The decision to cancel the contract results in the immediate cessation of work by Polish workers employed by ZRE.
The TEEU said the workers must be offered work with whichever company gets the new contract and it would use all means at its disposal to ensure this.
The ESB said Lentjes had informed it that the decision was taken in accordance with the requirements of Irish labour and employment law.
The ESB said it is concerned about the implications for the ZRE employees and will work through the main contractor Lentjes 'to ensure appropriate arrangements are in place for ZRE staff'.
The ESB said that arising from its monitoring arrangements on site, it was aware of a number of outstanding issues with ZRE in relation to its compliance with labour and employment laws.
The ESB said it was assured that a replacement contractor will be in place quickly to complete the work previously carried out by ZRE.
