ESB workers condemn government attacks on wages
5 February 2009
Unite, the largest trade union representing
workers at the ESB, has attacked Environment Minister John Gormley
over comments made yesterday criticising the payment of an agreed
wage rise.
“The ESB made in excess of €500 million in
profit last year,” said Unite Regional Organiser Brendan
Ogle. “Over €150 million of that was paid to government
through its dividend. Like any other company, it is bound by
the national agreement struck by his own government to pay an
increase of 3.5 per cent to the workers who have contributed to
that.”
“Electricity prices are disgracefully high,
but that has nothing to do with staff costs. Staff costs
represent 16 per cent of the ESB’s operating costs, ranking us 9th
of the top 15 EU economies. The reason for electricity prices
being so high is because of misguided government policy to distort
prices, to create a false competitive market and in the long run to
use this as a control on prices. All it has done is create
the high prices but with no competition.”
“The Unite Union published a paper as long ago
as March 2007 ‘Through the Looking Glass – A Briefing Paper on
the Irish Electricity Market’ which highlighted how Government
Policy was deliberately pushing electricity prices to unsustainable
levels to encourage competition.”
“Rather than scape goating workers, Mr Gormley
and his colleagues should be forcing an abandonment of this policy
and allow ESB to bring prices down to their natural level.”
“Employers who cannot afford to pay, and this
seemingly includes the government, have options on how to deal with
workers for the common good. The ESB and other profitable
companies would be profiteering on the backs of honest workers were
they to step outside the agreement.”
“The ESB understands this and the cheap
politicking of Mr Gormley will hardly be appreciated, even by his
fellow Green cabinet minister, Eamon Ryan.”
“ESB workers contribute to this making ESB the
only truly successful utility in the state. Ask any member of the
public who lost their electricity recently in storms only to have
it repaired within hours.”
“ESB fulfils its function efficiently and
profitably. It does so at a time when the Banks are riddled with
mismanagement and corruption and the building developers have
mortgaged the country to the hilt for a lifetime. For the
government to attack those who are doing things right and defend
those who have clearly done wrong is bizarre and will be recognised
as so in living rooms up and down the country.”
“It is time for cool heads Minister Gormley.
Your anger is misplaced. We do not want or need an ‘angry’
Government, attacking workers. Workers in ESB and elsewhere will
not allow themselves to be made scapegoats for the historic mess
the triumvirate of Government, Bankers and Developers have gotten
us into. Until banks call in their loans rather than being
protected by workers taxes and until the wealthy pay their share to
solve this debacle, workers too will be rightly angered.”
END
Further information: Brendan Ogle – Unite M:
087 1200312, Rob Hartnett – Hartnett McClure PR M: 086 3851955
Email to a friend
Want to share this story? These sites allow you to tag and share links across the internet enabling you to share these links with friends and people with similar interests. You can also access your links from any computer you happen to be using.
