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?

Network technicians at ESB Networks who are members of the Independent Workers Union are engaged in industrial action, including work-to-rule and work stoppages. Industrial relations within ESB Networks are a matter for the company, and while any industrial action is regrettable, the impact of this particular action is expected to be limited. The action has been taken by network technicians at ESB Networks who are members of the Independent Workers Union. This union is not affiliated to either the ESB group of unions or the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and workers who are members of those unions are not involved in the action.