No power outages as unions and ESB agree deal
A threatened strike that would have seen ESB energy taken off the grid has been avoided after unions said their industrial dispute with management has been resolved.
Workers were poised to stage a walk-out on Monday December 16 in a row over the company’s pension fund.
But the action has been averted after a weekend of crunch talks with union and management representatives.
Unions’ withdrew the strike threat after claiming it had secured protections for the pension scheme.
The resolution was facilitated by the Labour Relations Commission.
A statement on behalf of the unions involved in the negotiations said staff had been subjected to unfair public criticism during the dispute.
“The ESB workers have been publicly vilified for nothing more than protecting themselves and their families against an attempted destruction of their bought and paid for pension rights,” it claimed.
The statement also praised the “unity and determination” of the workers, their representatives and the wider trade union movement.
If the strike had gone ahead, all power generated by the ESB would have been off the grid when the action kicked in.
The Government had said the state-owned electricity operator EirGrid would have attempted to minimise disruption to energy customers caused by any potential strike.
