State may face blackouts after ESB strike vote

THE State faces possible electricity blackouts in the coming months after ESB unions yesterday decided to hold a vote on industrial action.

The ESB group of unions - representing more than 8,000 workers - yesterday began organising a ballot for early next month following a breakdown in talks.

“We’ve been left with no other alternative but to commence the process of consultation in the individual unions with a view to commencing a ballot on 6 April,” said Paddy Reilly, secretary of the group of unions.

The unions are seeking to have the workers’ current 5% share in the company increased by 14.9%.

Mr Reilly said the unions had been in discussions with both company management and the Department of Communications for the last two months.

“We’ve had discussions with ESB and the department over the last couple of months and we’ve come to a conclusion that there is no conclusion.

“The department says they can’t negotiate on the question of extending the share and rejected totally out of hand our claims.”

He said the unions had agreed to 4,000 job losses in the last 10 years of structural change and had to look forward to further painful changes in the coming three to four years.

A company spokesman said management had met with unions several weeks ago and that ESB would never institute change except as part of the partnership process.

He said the current partnership agreement, Programme for Achieving Competitiveness and Transformation, was still active and there would be no new arrangements until that is completed this summer.