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About 600 ESB Networks technicians are taking part in a second 24-hour strike on Thursday across the country, the Independent Workers’ Union (IWU) has said.
The company said on Thursday that the stoppage had had limited impact on services. It said the time for repairing faults and restoring power to customers affected by outages was in line with any other day. It also said that planned maintenance was continuing despite the strike.
The union said on Thursday that members of other unions at the company were not passing their pickets.
The dispute, which the company has argued is unlawful, centres on what the union has described as a lack of consultation and meaningful discussion about the outsourcing of work.
On Wednesday ESB Networks said it had formally issued proceedings in the High Court against the IWU seeking damages and other reliefs arising from industrial action at the company over the last week or so.
In the proceedings ESB Networks is seeking damages for defamation and conspiracy as well as for inducement of breach of contract, unlawful interference with contractual relations .
‘Financial implications’
Separately, in a letter on Wednesday to staff taking part in the strike action, ESB Networks warned that the move may have “financial implications” in addition to a loss of pay for day of the stoppage.
“As you know, ESB provides an essential service to the wider community, maintaining reliable electrical supplies for all of our customers but also to critical facilities like hospitals, nursing homes, vaccination centres and, of course, vulnerable customers. You are required to co-operate with reasonable instructions relating to this essential service and to respond to any matters impacting the provision of this essential service, including matters of system and public safety.
“This has been previously communicated directly to you and IWU. In advance of the planned work stoppage tomorrow, I would remind that you will not be paid for any period during which you withdraw your labour. Further to this, participation in unlawful industrial action may also have financial implications for you if you participate in such action. On your return to work on Friday, you will be required to collect your ESB vehicle and all work equipment necessary for you to carry out your duties at your normal start time.”
The company argued in the letter that the action initiated by IWU was “neither justified nor warranted, and will only damage our reputation and standing in the community we take pride in serving”.
The company urged staff to return to work as normal.
‘Continued privatisation’
The technicians who are members of the IWU are also scheduled to stage a two-day stoppage on Tuesday, May 4th, and Wednesday, May 5th.
A work-to-rule has been under way since the start of last week.
The IWU said last week that the dispute was not about money. The union said that it centred on “the failure of the employer to partake in any meaningful discussions in relation to the continued outsourcing of our members’ work to outside third parties – the continued privatisation of the ESB”.
The work performed by the network technicians includes the upgrading of infrastructure, essential maintenance and repairs, and the provision of safety services that assist external electrical contractors on outsourced projects.
Many of the technicians who are now members of the IWU had previously belonged to the Connect trade union but left in 2015.
The union said it was available at all times to utilise the services of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to avoid a continuation of this dispute but the company had not agreed.
ESB Networks does not recognise the IWU as a representative organisation for the network technician grades in the company. The IWU is not part of the group of unions in the company.