Postal strike continues despite mediation
A resolution to the escalating postal crisis looked a long way off tonight despite both sides entering into mediation talks.
The number of staff suspended at the Dublin Mail Centre has topped 500 and post boxes were being sealed across the capital as the row over cost-cutting measures intensified.
A further 93 staff have been laid off because of a lack of work.
An Post and the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) have begun separate talks chaired by the Labour Relations Commission in a bid to solve the dispute, which has plunged parts of the country’s mail service into chaos.
The row centres on a new sorting system due to have been introduced this week, which union members claim was imposed without their agreement.
But company chiefs say they have no choice but to implement deals which have already been bought and paid for and which form part of an agreement on cost cutting and pay reform.
A spokeswoman for An Post said they needed a solid resolution but were not optimistic that the talks would throw up any solutions.
“An Post has great concerns about the capability of the CWU to conclude the process successfully,” she said.
“We are there in good faith, this is our business but it’s being destroyed by this dispute and we need real change in the company.”
Fears have been growing that services across the state will be crippled unless the dispute is quickly resolved.
The union has so far delayed plans for a national strike.
Communications minister Dermot Ahern called on both sides to resolve the dispute and said it was in the interests of both unions and management to address the mounting losses quickly and effectively.
Companies throughout the Republic have expressed increasing concerns that the row is crippling business.
Around 60% of the country’s post goes through the main sorting office in the capital.
Other areas expected to be badly affected include parts of counties Wicklow, Monaghan, Louth and Galway.
Special arrangements have been made for social welfare cheques to be picked up at local offices in affected areas.
