Ballot pledge over ESB sell-off

A TRADE union representing workers in two Clare electricity generation plants has pledged to ballot its members for industrial action, up to and including withdrawal of labour, over the proposed sale of a minority stake in the ESB.

A motion was passed unanimously by all delegates at the biennial conference of the ESB Group of Unions endorsing a ballot of members in all the affected plants, including Moneypoint and Ardnacrusha.
“The will of the meeting was very clear that the short-term gain from a fire sale of the ESB is far outweighed by the loss of energy security, loss of dividend for the taxpayer and the loss of services, such as we have seen this week in repairing the network in adverse conditions,” said UNITE regional secretary, Jimmy Kelly.
Apart from this threatened sale of part of the ESB, another Unite spokesman warned that the ESB is seeking 1,000 voluntary redundancies and retirements from the company, including between 50 and 250 from its power generation companies, before 2015.
He said it is difficult to estimate how many workers would be affected in Moneypoint and Ardnacrusha because no voluntary redundancy package has been put on the table for discussion.
He warned the union would assess its position concerning strike action once a potential buyer and more definite details of the proposed sale becomes known.
Clare Fianna Fáil Deputy Timmy Dooley has expressed concerns about possible job losses at the Ardnacrusha and Moneypoint plants as a result of plans to sell off a large stake of the ESB.
Deputy Dooley said Fianna Fáil has very real concerns about the Government’s strategy on ESB privatisation. Based on experience and on detailed analysis of what is at stake in the case, Deputy Dooley said the party believes giving up State control of the ESB could cause chaos in energy provision and would inevitably result in large scale job losses at the firm.
“Two of the ESB’s largest plants, Ardnacrusha and Moneypoint, are located in Clare and the company has traditionally been one of the largest employers in this region. The plant at Ardnacrusha has been operational since 1929, while Moneypoint opened in 1987. 
“There is no getting away from the fact that job cuts are a consequence of selling State assets to private interests and this would inevitably impact on the staff at our two local ESB plants.
“I am deeply disappointed by the fact that the Fine Gael and Labour TDs in the Clare constituency voted in favour of a Dáil motion last week supporting privatisation.  The Government parties have five Oireachtas members in Clare but judging by the position they are now taking, they are fully supportive of the Government’s plans to privatise the ESB. They appear to have little regard for the ESB workers at our local plants,” he said.
“Fianna Fáil in Government decided against the privatisation of the ESB for a number of reasons. We decided not to sell either the high voltage lines, which are the transmission lines, or low voltage lines, which are the network lines connecting all houses. This is because they are a fundamental strategic national asset,” he stressed.
“If the Government sells a minority stake of anything up to 49%, the board of the ESB immediately changes and for the first time ever, there will be people in that boardroom whose only interest is financial gain. The long-term strategic interest of the State will be secondary to them, as their main focus will be securing a return for the shareholders.
“The Government has created a lot of confusion about how great a stake it intends to sell and what exactly the terms will be. This has caused a great deal of distress among workers. It is high time for the Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte to bring some clarity to this situation so that the ESB staff in Clare and nationwide have some idea about what is coming down the line,” he added.
Deputy Michael McNamara said as the Government considers the sale of a minority shareholding in the ESB, it must be remembered that the Shannon and all its tributary rivers and lakes are vested in the company. Angling has much tourism potential, however, local angling clubs around Lough Derg had to take the ESB to the steps of the High Court to force it to maintain those fisheries.
“While it is now maintaining them, there is huge scope for angling-based tourism in the Mid-West and throughout the country. With this legislation raising the cap on spending on tourism infrastructure a little, one area that would provide a return to the Exchequer on its investment is fishing. Some approach with the ESB to tap into the tourism potential of the Shannon fisheries must be worked out,” he told the Dáil.