Talks on a recovery plan for An Post are due to resume at the Labour Relations Commission on Monday week.
Management and the Communications Workers' Union, meanwhile, settled the dispute last night over the measures to be used to clear the backlog of mail left over from the recent dispute.
The two sides accepted a Labour Court recommendation on the issue shortly after 8 p.m. As a result, the company said, deliveries should begin to return to normal from tomorrow. However, it will take up to two weeks before the backlog is fully cleared.
Earlier, a CWU proposal on the matter was rejected by management and the matter was referred to the Labour Court, which convened a hearing yesterday afternoon.
An Post had said the union was trying to maximise the potential to create overtime for its members. The union said the company was more focused on containing costs than getting the service up and running as quickly as possible.
The row over clearing the backlog delayed the talks, due to start at the LRC this week, on a recovery plan to turn the loss-making company around.
However, the decision to put those talks back to Monday, April 19th, is not related to the row. It is understood the talks chairman, Mr Tom Pomphrett, was not available next week in any event.
The two sides agreed to enter the talks last week on the basis of proposals drawn up by Mr Pomphrett and the LRC chief executive, Mr Kieran Mulvey.
The company wants to reduce staffing levels in its letter post division by 1,350, through a combination of voluntary severance, redeployment and early retirement.
Its desire to introduce fully automated sorting of mail, and eliminate huge overtime payments, will also be critical issues in the talks.
