Workers at Brinks Allied are to begin a strike ballot tomorrow after talks aimed at resolving their dispute with the company broke down last night.
The row has disrupted cash deliveries to ATMs in Dublin and elsewhere on the east coast. But most machines in the affected areas continued to operate yesterday.
The dispute concerns the introduction of security procedures, which workers claim would leave them more vulnerable to attack during armed robberies.
Talks between their union, SIPTU, and Brinks management broke down last night after the parties had spent nearly five hours at the Labour Relations Commission.
SIPTU's security services branch secretary, Mr Kevin McMahon, claimed the company had failed to search for a resolution, but had instead introduced "a whole range of new issues relating to working conditions and operational procedures".
He said Brinks had rejected a compromise offered by SIPTU, under which cash deliveries would have resumed, with workers receiving training on the use of Dutch vehicles which the company has sought to introduce.Workers would now go ahead with a strike ballot from tomorrow.
It is understood that all cash deliveries by Brinks to and from banks and major commercial customers would cease if the strike goes ahead.
Mr McMahon explained last night that, while supplies to ATMs had already been affected, supervisors at the company were continuing to carry out deliveries for major clients.
In the event of an official strike, he expected that all such activity would cease.
A vote in favour of a strike would require the sanction of SIPTU's national executive, before seven days' notice was served on the company.
Management at Brinks Allied has declined to return phone calls seeking a comment.
SIPTU shop stewards at other cash-in-transit companies will meet this evening to review security arrangements in the industry generally.
Mr McMahon said this meeting was part of a continuing process, however, and there were no plans at this point to spread the dispute to other companies.
Entering yesterday's talks at the Labour Relations Commission, he said the cash-in-transit industry faced a major security crisis which required a co-ordinated response.
"In the first six months of this year €4 million was stolen during armed robberies in the Republic, compared to £4 million (€6 million) for the whole of 2003 in the UK. This gives some idea of the scale of the problem."
Despite the escalating row at Brinks Allied, banks are managing to keep ATMs supplied with cash. Ms Jennifer Chamberlaine, of the Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO), which represents the banking sector, said 95 per cent of ATMs at branches were operating yesterday.
Three-quarters of non-branch ATMs were also working, she said, while 98 per cent of machines in retail outlets were functioning normally.
Ms Chamberlaine said many retail customers who had laser cards had heeded advice over the weekend to use the cashback facility where possible.
She said 37,000 retail outlets in the Republic had this facility, and the IPSO was advising customers to continue using it, as well as alternatives to cash transactions such as credit cards.