Employees of a Polish company accused of under-paying workers at the ESB power station in Moneypoint, Co Clare, are to hold a strike ballot today over the alleged victimisation of colleagues who acted as "whistleblowers".
ZRE Katowice, a sub-contractor involved in the €350 million refurbishment of the power plant, was accused last month of paying workers a third of the legal minimum rate.
The workers' union, the TEEU, claimed yesterday that four of its activists had been sacked.
An industrial relations adviser to the company, John Kennedy, said his information was that the contracts of the workers concerned had expired. As far as he was aware there was no connection between the controversy over ZRE's pay rates and the decision to send the workers home.
The ESB, however, expressed concern and said it "abhorred" any attempt by the sub-contractor to send workers home against their wishes.
The board said it had informed the labour inspectorate of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment of what had taken place.
Controversy about ZRE's employment standards arose three weeks ago when the TEEU claimed the company's 66 workers were being paid just €5.20 an hour.
The national minimum wage is €7.65 an hour, but the workers concerned are entitled to a legal minimum of €18.97 an hour under the construction industry's registered employment agreement.
The ESB said it had already uncovered the problem and steps had been taken to address it, while ZRE admitted to "limited" underpayments and said any shortfalls would be made good.
TEEU regional secretary Pat Guilfoyle said a 26-year-old shop steward and three colleagues had been sacked and were due to be sent home last night.
Three, however, had decided to stay to fight their case with the support of the union. "As far as the union is concerned this is a straightforward case of victimisation of trade union activists."
The company's workers will meet today to hold a strike ballot, he said. "There is also strong support among workers in Moneypoint power station for the sacked workers, and TEEU shop stewards are meeting tomorrow to assess the situation."
While a strike at ZRE would not have implications for power supplies, any larger-scale action by TEEU members at the power station would be likely to cause blackouts. The union did not explicitly threaten any such action, however.
It is also understood that the ESB was working behind the scenes with the main contractor on the site, German firm Lurgi Lentjes, to ensure the workers concerned were reinstated.