Shop stewards at the Ferbane ESB plant and union officials are meeting today to discuss initiatives to save the power station and more than 300 jobs in the local community.
The dispute centres on the refusal of three instrumentation technicians at Ferbane to implement new work practices ahead of a national agreement being reached for their grade. One possible solution is for the ESB's internal conciliation system to conclude negotiations on the national agreement before the company board meets on October 16th to decide if the plant should close.
MSF, the union representing instrumentation technicians, has always argued it is willing to go to arbitration on the national issue if necessary. It has also accused the company and the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mrs O'Rourke, of trying to pre-empt the Cost and Competitiveness Review, which provides until April 1999 to agree implementation of new work practices.
However, the ESB has an agreement in principle to introduce new work practices at Ferbane well ahead of the April 1999 deadline in order to save the plant. Deferral of the refurbishment programme has already increased the cost from £11 million to £15 million, and the company says it is not prepared to defer investment any longer.
The instrumentation technician at the centre of the dispute, both locally and nationally, is MSF branch secretary Mr Don Geraghty. Yesterday MSF issued a statement condemning "the demonisation" of Mr Geraghty "by ESB management and Government". The union called on both "to adhere to agreements and abide by agreed procedures to address industrial relations problems in Ferbane".
The union's national executive member for Ireland, Mr Laurence Galbraith, said the people of Ferbane were too mature to believe that Mr Geraghty or any individual could close the station.
Meanwhile the other union involved in the dispute, the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union, said yesterday its members were willing to honour the agreement needed to save Ferbane. It represents two-thirds of the workers affected by the work changes.