Talks aimed at resolving the dispute at An Post are to begin today, but with little prospect of an early resolution.
Postal services in many areas, including Dublin, deteriorated further yesterday as the row escalated between the company and the Communications Workers' Union. An Post intends to begin sealing postboxes in the affected areas today, a spokesman said.
The company suspended a further 88 staff at its Dublin Mail Centre in Clondalkin yesterday, taking to 508 the number suspended for refusing to carry out management instructions.
A further 93 temporary staff at delivery offices in the capital are to have their contracts suspended today as the company says there is no work for them. Both sides yesterday accepted an invitation by the Labour Relations Commission to attend exploratory talks this afternoon.
The two sides will meet the commission separately and there are no immediate plans for direct talks. A spokesman for An Post said that in accepting the invitation, it had made the point to the LRC that the company had "serious reservations" about the willingness of the union to deliver on the outcome of any talks. Mr Seán McDonagh of the CWU said it would be a pre-requisite of the union that the suspended staff should be reinstated before substantive talks could begin.
Welcoming the LRC's intervention, the Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, told the Dáil the issues were complex. "However, there is one underlying reality which can not be ignored," he said. "An Post is in deep financial trouble and no amount of wishful thinking can airbrush away this reality. The simple facts are the company is losing €600,000 every week - or €2.5 million each month. This is the stark reality that all sides have to address."
Mr Ahern also explained why the Government had not yet introduced legislation allowing for the establishment of an employee share ownership plan (ESOP) for the workers in An Post. The plan, which would give staff a 14.9 per cent stake in the company, was agreed four years ago.
The failure to implement it is one of the issues at the centre of a strike threat by the CWU. Mr Ahern said the Government was "fully committed to the plan", but it had always been contingent on certain savings. The board of An Post had reported that those savings were well below target.
However, he had commissioned a study and was awaiting a report.
About 60 per cent of the State's post is processed at the Dublin Mail Centre. An Post is asking customers not to post to or from the following areas: Dublin city and county, Bray, Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Drogheda, Dundalk, Kells, Greystones, Navan, Tuam and Wicklow. The Department of Social and Family Affairs has set up collection centres, where cheques can be picked up a day after the normal payment date.
Special arrangements for primary school teachers who receive their salary by cheque have also been set up by the Department of Education and Science.
