Further talks over Rhode deal unlikely

The ESB is unlikely to re-open negotiations with workers at the disused Rhode power station in Offaly following the rejection by staff there of what is seen as a very generous closure package.

But sources within the company and its unions played down the prospects of unofficial action by Rhode staff disrupting supplies from other stations.

The board of the ESB will not meet until February 25th - and in any case must observe a 30-day cooling off period before initiating any further action - but there are indications that a marker had been put down at a previous meeting about possible courses of action in the event of the vote's rejection. Specifically, it is thought to have been clear to executives that the board would not support any further negotiations on a package for the closure of the Rhode station, which has not produced electricity since mid-2001.

There is understood to be a growing determination within the company that the station must close without further delay.

The workers at Rhode are unlikely to find much support either from the ESB group of unions, which had lobbied for the €20 million package.

And the Government is understood to be disturbed even about the terms which were turned down by 59 votes to 45, arguing that they already breached the level laid down in the previous closure of the Ferbane power station, also in Co Offaly, in broadly similar circumstances. That leaves little room for the Rhode employees to lobby for State intervention to improve the terms of the existing package.

The fact that the package is voluntary, with an option for staff at Rhode to relocate to other facilities close by, is seen as further undermining the case of the workers, who claim they would have difficulty finding alternative work.

What has particularly angered the company and the unions is the reference in Friday's vote to workers holding out for compensation over the stress of worrying about possible exposure to asbestos at the peat-burning plant.

A spokesman for the group of unions said it had previously been sent a letter by the Rhode workers accepting that asbestos "was no longer an issue". Both the company and the unions have dismissed the prospect of compensating any group for stress related to possible exposure.

Other union sources said there would be no ballot at any power generating station in the State for strike action over the Rhode workers and condemned the actions of staff leaders at the plant for jeopardising the future of all workers at the company.

"The ESB and the Government haver to stand up to the sort of action that is being taken by these workers," said one. "To do otherwise would be to legitimise industrial relations blackmail to the county at large."

A spokesman for the Government said its position was that the issue of the closure of Rhode was a matter for the board of ESB.