Action by postal workers could lead to severe disruptions to Christmas deliveries across the State, it was claimed today.
Protests by sub-postmasters could escalate in December if a meeting tomorrow between An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union fails to resolve the dispute, the union's general secretary said.
"If the dispute is not resolved tomorrow we are going to ballot our members on Thursday morning to escalate the action further still," IPU general secretary Mr John Kane said.
He said if the ballot is in favour of further action, then their dispute will escalate on December 2th, halting work at all 1,700 of the country's rural post offices.
"This would make it very difficult, if not impossible for people to post parcels and letters in the run-up toChristmas," Mr Kane said.
The warning came as postmasters picketed two sorting centres in Galway and Mayo today in their row over the sorting of rural mail.
Tomorrow's key talks in Dublin come after months of protest by sub-postmasters, who are demanding extra payment for sorting in addition to pay for other postal services.
The debate escalated two weeks ago, when 540 rural sub-postmasters began suspending sorting facilities at their sub-post offices on Mondays and Fridays.
PA