Minister to seek new talks to avert strike at An Post

Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey will today resume attempts to broker talks in the An Post dispute, as Friday's strike deadline looms with attitudes on both sides hardening.

The Minister has cancelled a five-day trip to Washington so that he can continue trying to persuade union leaders and management to meet under his chairmanship or that of an agreed third party.

But union leaders declined an invitation to talks on Friday last and there was no sign over the weekend of a compromise emerging.

The Communication Workers Union's (CWU) two-week strike notice expires at midnight on Thursday, when some form of industrial action - probably a series of limited regional work stoppages to begin with - now seems likely.

The union said action on Friday was a "strong possibility".

A company spokeswoman said the union had given no hint of what form any industrial action would take. "The threat alone is already costing us business," she said.

An Post is now preparing contingency plans "on every level", she added. "The situation could not be more serious."

The company released figures yesterday to show that the top 10 earners among postmen - all based in Dublin - will more than treble their basic wages this year when overtime is included.

The spokeswoman said this was an example of how "overtime-ridden" restrictive practices were "crippling the company".

The Labour Court had made recommendations that would address this problem while ensuring wage increases, she added.

But the CWU countered that instead of showing a willingness to negotiate, the company had "upped the ante" in recent public statements about workers. Claims made about sick leave levels among staff were "untrue and unhelpful", a CWU spokesman said.

Employers group IBEC warned last night of major difficulties for business, especially those dependent on cash-flow, if a strike goes ahead.

The group regretted that, "after one of the most exhaustive sets of negotiations ever", the unions had not realised this was "the end of the road".

Separately yesterday, Minister for Social and Family Affairs Séamus Brennan said he was taking steps to ensure that Christmas bonus payments would reach welfare recipients in the event of a strike.

"This bonus payment is relied on by hundreds of thousands of people, and is important at this time of year as spending pressures increase," Mr Brennan said in a statement.

The extra social welfare payment is at the full 100 per cent rate and the total cost is estimated by the Department of Social and Family affairs at €139.33 million.

The bonuses are due to be paid to 1.2 million claimants from the first week in December, with almost six in 10 recipients currently receiving their payments in post offices and a further 10 per cent getting cheques through the post.

But the Irish Postmasters Union accused the department of using the threatened strike to pursue a longer-term agenda of transferring welfare payments to banks.

IPU general secretary John Kane said social welfare was the postal services' biggest single customer and added: "Without this business, the post office network would simply not survive."

A letter to welfare recipients last week asked them to collect their cheques at their local community welfare office, he said.

It also informed them that the only safe way to ensure payment in the future was to use the bank route. "These cheques could easily have been channelled through the 1,375 sub post offices which are not affected by the dispute," Mr Kane said.