A number of archaeologists working on the €215 million Macroom bypass in Co Cork have staged a protest in the town as part of a 24-hour strike.
The strike is in pursuit of union recognition and a pay claim.
The archaeologists are members of the Unite trade union and are working for Irish Archaeological Consultancy, based in Co Wicklow.
They have lodged a pay claim with the company and say they want to be represented by Unite at union/management negotiations.
The company, IAC, said it deals directly with staff on contractual matters and claims it is already offering salary packages on projects which are at or above the rates being sought by the striking archaeologists and their union.
The archaeologists went on strike at 6am this morning for 24 hours, and staged a protest with supporters at the Square in Macroom earlier today.
In a further twist in the dispute, they claim IAC has engaged in "union-busting" tactics by issuing a week's termination of employment notice to archaeologists involved in the dispute.
However, IAC has pointed out that the company is not the main archaeological contractor on the Macroom by-pass project. The company said it was told by the main archaeological contractor last week that its work was complete and its staff would no longer be required.
IAC said it immediately notified staff and said it told them that every effort would be made to accommodate them on other IAC projects where possible.
The Macroom bypass is a €215m project to build a 22 kilometre dual carriageway from Coolcower, east of Macroom, to Ballyvourney in the west.
It is understood that work on the project was not affected by today's strike.
