The State's postal system faces huge disruption from Monday after the main trade union at An Post announced its workers are to go on strike over a pay dispute.
The action will consist of a nationwide ban on overtime, in addition to an all-out strike at the GPO in Dublin and other "selected locations" throughout the country, the Communications Workers' Union said this evening.
The CWU said An Post had "squandered" the opportunity prior to the strike in the process when requested to so by the NIB as provided for under the Sustaining Progress agreement.
A spokeswoman for An Post told ireland.comthis evening said it was "so disappointed" that the CWU had chosen to announce the strike action when talks were still continuing with the National Implementation Body in Dublin this evening.
"Because the system is so dependent on overtime, and that is why we have been trying to change the system for so long, it will cause major disruption nationally to all mail services to all mail services and that is what we are advising customers," she said.
"It is astonishing that they would announce this but we would not be surprised by anything the union does."
The spokeswoman said that An Post had put in place "all possible contingency plans" to assist customers and those who receive social welfare benefits through its services, but she admitted it was still likely many customers would be inconvenienced.
Steve Fitzpatrick, general secretary of the CWU said: "We have specifically chosen a nationwide overtime ban as our initial course of action in order to highlight the reliance placed on overtime by the company to simply keep the service operating as well as to expose the real impact that the recruitment ban has had on the postal service since it was introduced by the chief executive in September 2003.
"We believe this will help disprove the propaganda being circulated by the company that workers can somehow invent overtime where there is no requirement for it," he said.
"We will take all necessary steps to ensure that payments to social welfare recipients and pensioners remain uninterrupted by the dispute and we now formally call on Minister Noel Dempsey and An Post to show the same regard for the hardship being suffered by An Post Pensioners and pay them their long overdue cost of living pay increases."
The CWU general secretary said he would like to thank the NIB for their intervention and "we would hope their efforts will continue".
"The begrudging attendance by An Post senior management made a resolution extremely difficult. It is most regrettable that they squandered the opportunity prior to the ballot to engage in the process when requested to do so by the NIB as provided for under the Sustaining Progress Agreement."
"The union very much regrets the impact on our customers who have shown tremendous support to their local postperson, but, having pursued every peaceful avenue over the last two years, we are left with no other option but to embark on this campaign in pursuance of the cost of living pay increases to which our members are rightly entitled and which all other public services workers have received.
The Labour Court recommended in July that pay increases under the Sustaining Progress agreement be paid provided postal staff agreed to a range of work practice changes in the company's collection and delivery service.
This was accepted by An Post but rejected by the union, which says the pay increases and work practice changes are separate issues and should not be linked.
Labour Spokesperson on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Tommy Broughan, today called on the Taoiseach to intervene in the dispute.