Workers at Emergency Call Answering Services centres (ECAS) are set to undertake industrial action.
There has been some unrest among workers for some time, and members of the Communications Workers Union have sought talks with their employer at the Workplace Relations Commission.
However, BT Ireland, who oversee the ECAS centres, have rejected the invitation to participate.
The two centres that serve the country are based in Ballyshannon in Donegal, and in Navan, Co. Meath.
Ian McArdle, Deputy General Secretary of the Communications Workers Union, says BT Ireland's behaviour has left the ECAS workers in a difficult position: