A plan by An Post to cut nearly 1,500 jobs as part of a restructuring of its mail service faces a delay of several more months following talks yesterday at the Labour Court.
The court is expected today to establish a new talks process between the company and the Communications Workers' Union, which is resisting proposals for change. An expert group is to be appointed by the court to engage in discussions with the parties and to try and find areas of agreement.
It will report back to the court by May 6th. If there are issues still unresolved, the court will issue recommendations within two weeks of that date. That timetable means the company will be at least a year behind schedule with a major restructuring of its mail service, which it had hoped to implement in mid-2004.
It wants to cut 1,450 collection and delivery jobs from the current total of 5,000. It also wants to reduce overtime levels and to do away with demarcation between postmen and women, post office clerks and postal sorters.
Management is also seeking full implementation of automated mail-sorting, the redesign of collection and delivery routes and "limited deployment" of owner-drivers in some rural areas.
In return for these and other changes, staff would receive a 5.35 per cent pay increase in three phases, but only as changes were verified over a 30-month period.
Members of the CWU have already rejected the proposals. Of 4,315 members balloted by the union late last year, only 195 voted in favour of the restructure.
It is understood that the expert panel will include a former senior manager in An Post, Mr Eamonn Ryan, and former ICTU president Mr Phil Flynn.