The unions at Bord na Móna have announced that the workforce of 2,000 is to take strike action on Monday week.
The secretary of the Bord na Móna Group of Unions, Adrian Kane, has said the workers are taking all out strike action on Monday, 1 November and Monday, 8 November after a dispute over a 3% pay increase which was agreed earlier in the year.
The strike could delay the commissioning of two new power stations for the ESB and threaten energy supplies to the national grid if it goes ahead.
The director of Bord na Móna's Peat Energy Division, Sean Grogan, said he was disappointed with the news and that the workers were not paid the additional increase because they had been in breach of the spirit of an agreement.
Mr Grogan said the company had already paid €2.3m to the workforce in a pay increase over and above the national pay agreement, but was obliged to recover this money through productivity.
The Bord na Móna Group of Unions has accused the company of being mean spirited and short-sighted in not paying the increase.
