An agreement to resolve the two-week postal dispute was threatening to unravel last night, within hours of both sides accepting it, writes Chris Dooley, Industry and Employment Correspondent
Staff at the Dublin Mails Centre who had been suspended by An Post began returning to work in preparation for a full resumption of services next week.
Behind the scenes, however, a furious row had begun over the company's interpretation of settlement proposals drawn up by the Labour Relations Commission.
Management at the company accepted that the 555 staff suspended during the row were to be reinstated, in line with the LRC's proposals.
But it refused to give guarantees about the future of 89 temporary staff who were laid off during the dispute because there was no work for them.
This drew an angry response from the Communications Workers' Union (CWU). A union spokesman said the company's position was "malign, mean-spirited and provocative".
With the two sides due to begin comprehensive talks next week on the future of the loss-making company, the union spokesman added: "There couldn't be a worse start to the process."
A spokesman for An Post said it was entitled to treat the temporary staff differently, and insisted they were not covered by the LRC proposals.
He claimed the row was "typical of the CWU, where everything has to be decided in their favour. It doesn't bode well for the talks process."
In a section dealing with return-to-work arrangements, the proposals make specific reference to staff who have been laid off as well as those suspended.
The section is headed "Suspensions, lay-offs and continuous working arrangements". It then refers to the suspensions and lay-offs as an "immediate impediment to talks" which must be resolved.
However, in a concluding sentence, it says the company should "agree to lift the suspensions and allow for a return to work".
The absence of the words "lay-offs" in this sentence was being interpreted by the company as justification for its position that the 89 temporary staff were not covered by the proposals.
Providing the matter is resolved, the two sides will return to the LRC next week to draw up a schedule for talks on a company recovery plan, to be concluded by mid-May.
Postal services in the areas affected by the dispute, which include Dublin and parts of other counties, are due to return to normal from Monday.