Renewed talks aimed at resolving the postal dispute are to begin at the Labour Relations Commission today.
After two days of informal contacts with An Post and the Communications Workers' Union, the commission announced last night that it had invited both parties to attend talks this morning. It would be exploring ways of securing a suspension of the dispute and the commencement of direct talks between the two sides, it said.
Mr Kieran Mulvey, the LRC chief executive, said both sides were also being asked not to exacerbate the situation in the meantime.
Postal services in many areas of the country, including Dublin and surrounding counties, have all but collapsed because of the dispute, which is now in its second week.
The Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, said he was in daily touch with An Post but he did not have a "magic wand" with which to intervene.
The CWU yesterday decided to establish a "solidarity fund" for members who have been suspended by the company.
The dispute began the weekend before last, when An Post began suspending staff at its Dublin Mail Centre in Clondalkin for refusing to carry out management instructions.
The CWU claims the company tried arbitrarily to impose a new sorting system, which had implications for staff in delivery offices. Following a meeting of its national executive yesterday, the union said a one-off subscription of €20 would be levied on all working members of the union, to establish a solidarity fund.
The union has 20,000 members, so the scheme has the potential to raise up to €400,000.
According to the CWU, 750 of its members had been suspended up to yesterday. This is denied by the company, which said the total number suspended was 555.
In addition, 89 delivery office staff on temporary contracts had been let go because there was no work for them, a company spokesman said.
There had been no suspensions in recent days, he added.
Both sides attended discussions with the LRC last week but were unable to agree a basis on which direct talks could begin.
The commission's decision to intervene again was seen as the first indication that a breakthrough in the dispute could be on the cards. It would be unlikely to invite the two sides back for talks unless it considered that a resolution was possible.
There are still no immediate plans for direct talks between management and the union, however. Instead, the two will hold separate "proximity talks" with the commission.