Zoe Developments said yesterday it would have to place all its 340 staff on protective notice unless the Building and Allied Trades Union (BATU) entered into "realistic" negotiations in a dispute over wages. Pickets have been placed on Zoe sites in Dublin.
A spokesman for Zoe said the company employed a further 460 people in sub-contracting who would also lose work.
More than 40 bricklayers, members of BATU, have been in dispute with Zoe for seven months. BATU's general secretary, Mr Paddy O'Shaughnessy, said Zoe was now a major developer and should pay the same as other large companies.