THE ESB group of unions has agreed a method of balloting its members on the company's offer under the £270 million restructuring deal. However, the unions have still to endorse the Cost and Competitiveness Review on which the offer is based.
They are to meet again next Monday, when each union will have to make a final decision on whether it will endorse the CCR. ESB union sources last night were optimistic that consensus would be achieved.
Agreement on the method of balloting represents a significant breakthrough in the CCR talks, which have been deadlocked largely because of internal disagreements between SIPTU and the other ESB unions.
Earlier in the day agreement had seemed unlikely. The group of unions had sought yet another meeting with the company seek ing clarifications on how the CCR would affect some categories of staff.
As a result the group meeting began three hours behind schedule. It is understood the TEEU put the main motion on how ballots should be conducted. An amendment from SIPTU to conduct two ballots was ruled out of order.
Eventually all the unions agreed to a single ballot. Under this system each category of ESB workers will be presented with one ballot paper containing all the information relevant to their category, plus details of overall rewards, the ESB's voluntary severance package and other aspects of the CCR such as pricing policy and proposed new legislation to regulate the energy market.
The ballots will be conducted by the individual unions but votes are expected to be aggregated within categories. The ballot paper is expected to run to several pages and will pose big logistical problems for the unions.