The Energy Services Union is a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

representing workers at the

ESB Group The Electricity Supply Board (ESB; ga, Bord Soláthair an Leictreachais) is a state owned (95%; the rest are owned by employees) electricity company operating in the Republic of Ireland. While historically a monopoly, the ESB now operates as a ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The union was founded in 1959 as the Electricity Supply Board Officers' Association, and by the following year had a membership of 1,116, growing to 1,800 ten years later. It affiliated to the

Irish Congress of Trades Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union centr ...

in 1976. David Begg became its general secretary in 1982, serving for three years.John B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.6, p.370 In 2012, the union renamed itself as the "Energy Services Union".

General Secretaries

:1982: David Begg :1985: :1990s: Willie Cremins :2000s: Fran O'Neill

References

{{Irish Congress of Trade Unions Trade unions established in 1959 1959 establishments in Ireland Trade unions in the Republic of Ireland