Retail Excellence Ireland (REI), the energetic retail lobbying group, fired a warning shot yesterday across the bows of ESB and its recalcitrant workers, who sit down today along with mandarins to try to thrash out a deal to prevent the State's lights going out in industrial action during the run-up to Christmas.

REI said it will actively assist smaller retailers to move to other suppliers from ESB’s Electric Ireland, if the energy company’s workers carry out their threat to go on strike next month as part of their campaign to get the company to plug a €1.6 billion hole in its pension scheme.

ESB has about 100,000 SME accounts, many of them struggling retailers who will bear the economic brunt of power blackouts slap bang in the middle of their busiest trading period.

REI’s simultaneous call for the Government to introduce emergency legislation preventing ESB Networks workers from striking was a touch more hyperbolic. The lobby group says ESB’s workers “don’t have the right to strike” because of the damage it would do to the economy.

Try telling that to Brendan Ogle the ESB unions' militant leader who is currently marching his charges up to the top of the hill. It should be pointed out, by the way, that Ogle faces re-election in the coming months, which may partly explain why he has chosen to bring this issue to a head now.

It is doubtful that REI would really be able to co-ordinate a mass defection of retailers from ESB – its threat appeared to be borne more of anger than from cold, hard calculation. But the company would be wise not to dismiss blithely the possibility of an angry backlash of some sort from scorned SMEs, should other lobby groups join REI in urging their members to punish ESB following a strike.

Food for thought for the company, its workers and the officials who will meet later today.