Talks between ESB management, ATGWU and SIPTU officials and unofficial picketers went on late last night as a demarcation dispute at the Ferbane peat-powered station in Co Offaly threatened to spread to the 915megawatt (MW) electricity station at Moneypoint, Co Clare, this morning.
The unofficial dispute began in Ferbane on Monday after some 20 workers, members of the ATGWU and SIPTU, claimed that salvage work should not have been carried out by electricians at the plant, which is being refurbished with a 40MW unit.
The plant is due to cease generating power from the end of next month for some months while the refurbishment work continues but, because of a technical fault, it is not currently generating.
Fears that the dispute will spread to Moneypoint centre on the belief that a stoppage at the much larger coal-burning plant has the capacity to disrupt the national grid. Day workers tend to be loyal to their category before their union. "The problem is this thing is wildcat," said one union official.
Ferbane, which can currently generate only 10MW, is not essential to the national daily demand of about 2,800MW. "The workers in Ferbane cannot achieve anything by going on strike. There is no power being generated. Their leverage is thin. It is not as big a strike as the guys in Moneypoint would have," an industry source said last night.
Earlier this summer, a voluntary redundancy package was agreed in Ferbane which has resulted in the loss of about 60 jobs. However, another 52 jobs were saved by the refurbishment.
Labour relations within the ESB are sometimes fraught. The most recent serious dispute occurred in March when an unofficial protest by mechanical fitters over the disciplining of two shop stewards in Tarbert, Co Kerry, and which could have affected 17 power stations, was averted.