Deadline nears in ESB restructuring talks

Talks on restructuring the ESB are likely to continue to the last as both sides attempt to reach agreement ahead of tomorrow's deadline.

The company is offering its workers a 21 per cent pay increase in return for radical changes in work practices and some 2,000 voluntary redundancies.

The talks snagged on Saturday when it emerged some workers were unhappy about the discovery of special payments to fitters in Powergen, the British company working on a new power station.

The payments are said to be worth about £4 an hour and involve 200 fitters.

Details of the scheme have delayed the negotiation of the Programme for Action on Competitiveness and Transparency. The ESB board was due to meet tomorrow to approve the outcome of negotiations but the text may not now be ready.

A spokeswoman for SIPTU, one of the workers' main unions, declined to speculate on the talks outcomebut said they were likely to continue until tomorrow's deadline.

The ESB said this evening significant progress had been made in dealing with the complex issues facing the negotiators and both sides were fully committed to a successful conclusion.

A company spokesman said: "The ESB believes that it is absolutely vital that this change process is implemented in partnership with the Group of Unions so that the company and its employees can move forward into the challenging competitive marketplace with confidence."