An Post yesterday threatened to sue the Communications Workers' Union (CWU) for damages in the event of the union implementing a threat of industrial action.
The union's general secretary, Mr Steve Fitzpatrick, responded by saying he looked forward to meeting the company in court. He also warned that the union would "certainly" be staging a protest before Christmas, but said it had not yet decided on what form this action would take.
The exchanges yesterday underlined the depth of ill-feeling between the postal company and its biggest union, whose members have voted by a nine-to-one majority for industrial action to protect existing agreements.
The union claims the company's decision to proceed with the closure of its parcels division, SDS, is a breach of agreement and it is therefore entitled to take industrial action, up to and including a strike. It served seven days' notice of the action on the company last Friday.
In a reply to Mr Fitzpatrick yesterday, the company's human resources director, Mr Pat Knight, said the notice was in breach of the 1990 Industrial Relations Act. If the union had a dispute with the company, it had to be progressed through the agreed procedures, he said. In the event of the CWU instigating industrial action, An Post reserved the right to institute proceedings and recover damages.