Talks between An Post and the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) aimed at averting a pre-Christmas postal strike concluded at the Labour Court last night.
The two sides attended the court for intensive discussions at the weekend but no agreement was reached. The court is to issue a recommendation tomorrow.
The talks ended after nearly 12 hours of negotiations. The union has undertaken to put the court’s findings to a ballot of members, making an immediate strike unlikely. However, it has not ruled out a resumption of industrial action before Christmas.
Its members have already balloted in favour of industrial action over the company’s refusal to pay the full terms of Sustaining Progress. The Labour Court recommended in July that the outstanding wage increases should be paid, but only after the union signed up to a major rationalisation of An Post’s collection and delivery service.
This was rejected by the union, which identified four elements of the rationalisation plan which it said workers could not accept.
These included what the union called the "divisive" decision to alter the conditions of collection and delivery staff while other workers in An Post retained their entitlements.
The altered conditions would include changes to leave entitlements, reductions in holiday pay and a removal of the right of postmen and women to apply for and hold particular delivery routes and duties. The National Implementation Body subsequently asked accountants Grant Thornton to examine how much it would cost the company to make the changes to its plan sought by the union.
It is understood that, in a presentation to the parties through the NIB last week, the accountants largely concurred with the company’s assessment of the costs involved.
The CWU, however, continues to question the assumptions on which the company’s figures are based.
With agreement on the issue proving elusive, the NIB decided to refer the matter back to the court for a final, short period of intensive discussions.
In a separate development yesterday, the Irish Postmasters’ Union said most local post offices would close in the next 10 years if the Government failed to take action to sustain the network. General secretary John Kane told ameeting of postmasters and politicians in Thurles, Co Tipperary, that the IPU wanted smaller post offices to be made eligible for public service obligation supports, which would allow the State to provide funding for them without breaching EU law.
It also wanted the Department of Social and Family Affairs to maximise transactions carried out at local post offices.
