Staff at the defunct power station in Rhode, Co Offaly today rejected a €20 million closure package worth about €250,000 each over 10 years.
Management at the company said they would report the decision immediately to ESB board.
No electricity has been generated at Rhode since an explosion in May 2001. Yet up to 100 "workers" clock in every day at a cost of €60,000 per week to the ESB, or €6.2 million in the two years to the end of next May, the closure deadline set by the industrial council.
The company argues that a "more accurate" figure required to secure closure would be closer to €4 million, reflecting only the ongoing payment of staff's full salary for 11 months after the closure, an additional upfront net payment of €5,000, and payment of a taxable lump-sum equivalent to one year's salary after 11 months.
This element of the package exceeds the conditions of the PACT restructuring programme, designed to improve profitability through a reduction of staff numbers by 2,000 to 6,000. Funded through a €381 million exceptional charge in 2001, the programme was designed to be self-financing through the creation of efficiencies.
After 11 months, the Rhode staff would receive the PACT terms, guaranteeing ongoing payment of half their salary until the retirement age of 60, after which they will receive a pension worth half their salary. In addition, they would receive another lump sum, equivalent to a year's full salary at age 60.