'We never got paid on time'

Polish people stood about in groups of three and four in Kilrush, Co Clare yesterday, debating the prospects for further employment in the seaside town or with any new subcontractor at the ESB's Moneypoint power plant.

At the bank machine across the road from the Polish shop, Prjemek Sokolowski and his girlfriend were withdrawing cash for the weekly shopping. Prjemek said he had not been paid since the start of September.

"Yes, we are worried," he said. "I have been told to go to get out stuff [from his locker at Moneypoint] tomorrow, but I have no job." Prjemek has been in Kilrush for a year, but has worked in the plant for only three months. His girlfriend is unwilling to give her name but says she works in the local supermarket, so they are not both dependent on the power plant. Prjemek says it will be harder to find another job in the town now than if he had looked three months ago.

As two more Polish men come along the street, Prjemek stops them, speaking in Polish. They explain they have been here for about a year and appear glum about their chances of further employment at the plant. Are they short of money? They smile, showing their bag of shopping, making fun of the "breadline" and explain through Prjemek that they "have some savings". They have wives who are working in Poland, they add.

However, the two men don't want to give their names. Four men chatting outside the local SuperValu point out they have not been paid since the end of August and are due holiday payments. They don't hold out much hope of further work at the plant, but won't accept a flight back to Poland if one is offered. They want to wait to see what happens on Wednesday, when their missing wages are due to reach their bank accounts.

A spokesman for The Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union said people are still hopeful they might be taken on by a new contractor and do not want to be seen as troublemakers. But he said explanations that workers will be paid on Wednesday date from before they found out the company had lost its Moneypoint business.

"It was always like this," he said. "We never got paid on time. We were supposed to be paid on the 15th of the month, but we never did. It was always a week or more late. It was worse before, when we were being paid €5 an hour instead of €20."