Bord Na Móna staff strike strike over pensions and pay
Workers at Irish peat company Bord Na Móna are taking part in a two-day strike in a dispute over pay.
Work has been suspended at a number of sites.
The company offered to increase staff pay by 3.5%, which would be paid over two phases and a lump sum of 1,000 euros to every worker.
Unions representing workers want the increases to be made pensionable and no progress has been made between the sides.
Briquette production will be worst affected by the strike action on Wednesday.
Harvesting activities have been suspended in Longford, Westmeath, Laois, Offaly, Kildare and Roscommon where 1,500 workers are back on the picket lines for the second time in less than a month.
Pickets are also being placed at briquette factories in counties Offaly and Tipperary and at a supply depot at Edenderry power station in County Offaly.
The company's peat-harvesting targets are already down after the recent bad weather.
ESB power stations will not be disrupted.