Unions at eircom are expected to serve strike notice on the company shortly after a meeting between worker's representatives and management over a pay dispute ended without agreement today.
The four unions, the Communications Workers' Union's (CWU), Impact, the PESU and the CPSUhave said they are to discuss the outcome of the meeting with their members before deciding on the timing and nature of the industrial action.
Yesterday the CWU executive decided in principle to serve seven days' strike notice on Eircom, which has 80 per cent of the State's telephone lines.
However, the union's leadership postponed serving the notice pending the outcome of the meeting today.
In a statement after the meeting ended eircom said it was "disappointed that the unions have failed to engage in meaningful discussion" and suggested that "certain CWU officials may be pursuing an undisclosed objective, perhaps to secure pay outcomes inconsistent with Towards 2016".
The company said it had made a proposal to settle the dispute but that this had been rejected by the unions.
CWU members voted in favour of industrial action by 97 per cent this week after the company, owned by Australian venture capital fund Babcock & Brown, refused to pay a 2 per cent pay increase unless staff agreed to new work practices.
The increase is due under the national pay deal Towards 2016. The company wants new work practices agreed before the next pay installment.