Unofficial strike action at Tuam post office prompted An Post to open its doors to the public this week to collect mail to help clear a backlog of an estimated 20,000 items.
An Post has issued an appeal to the public not to post letters into Tuam to help "minimise the backlog", which was caused by a one-day strike last week.
Up to 50 per cent of households in the Tuam district have not received mail for more than a week as a result of a major backlog in post.
Members of the public went to the post office on Tuesday and Wednesday to retrieve their post. Staff in Tuam agreed yesterday to deliver a batch of the oldest mail, some of which is 10 days old.
Both town and rural areas have been affected including Dunmore, Cummer, Milltown, Ballyglunin and Kilconly. However, An Post said there is still a "substantial backlog" in the sorting office and this is still "subject to unofficial action". Since the work stoppage households and businesses in Tuam and outlying rural areas who normally receive mail later in the day have not been getting any deliveries.
Last week's action was prompted by health and safety concerns at the sorting office and postal workers insist that no attempt has been made by An Post to deal with either their proposals to clear the backlog or the on-going accommodation issues.
In a statement issued this week, An Post stated that customers have been "dreadfully inconvenienced" by this action and it will continue to do all in its power to help customers get their mail. "On-going industrial action means that people at the end of delivery routes are not receiving mail. The same people are getting deliveries every day while others have not received mail in over a week - since Monday, February 2nd. This unofficial action is totally unacceptable. There are well-established procedures for airing grievances to prevent action such as this which only hurts the customers."
Tuam branch officer Mr Peter Connolly said no unofficial action was taking place at the moment. "We have returned to our normal 7.5 hour a day shifts but the company have just sat on their hands and failed to negotiate."
The Independent TD for Galway East, Mr Paddy McHugh, has called on An Post to immediately put in place measures to sort out the problem. Describing the sorting office in Tuam as "totally inadequate" he said An Post needs to take the issue in hand before it "explodes completely".