Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Five hundred ESB network technicians are on strike today. They are striking over plans to outsource their jobs to private contractors and are making a stand against creeping privatisation. The company refuses to recognise their union, the Independent Workers Union, or to meet it at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, to try to sort out the differences. Instead, it is threatening to take legal action against the union. To be clear, this is the union of choice for nearly half of the workforce. The company's stance is tantamount to an attempt at union-busting.

Before the dispute escalates next Tuesday and Wednesday, will the Tánaiste call on the ESB to step back from the brink by withdrawing the threat of legal action and agreeing to talk to the chosen representatives of these workers?

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