A dispute between An Post management and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) has left companies in Shannon without an "adequate postal service" and An Post about to lose thousands of euro worth of business each month.
At least two firms, Pie Global Services and Partners in Europe, are in negotiations with an international courier company with a view to dispensing with An Post's Swift Post service, which the companies say is "simply not good enough."
Pie Global Services and Partners in Europe say they have no choice because they are "at risk of losing international business". The have been told that despite being closer to Shannon, they are no longer in that postal area.
"This has made things very difficult for us and it is simply not good enough," Pie Global spokesman Steve Moore said. "This has been going on almost three months now."
The two firms have recently moved to custom-built premises half a mile from An Post's sorting office in Shannon.
However, staff there are refusing to deliver mail to them and are instead returning it to the regional sorting office in Cork, a round trip of 180 miles, from where it is redirected back to Newmarket-on-Fergus, which is only five miles from Shannon.
"We have huge amounts of outgoing mail everyday going to customers all across Europe," Mr Moore said. "We need a reliable service and we are just not getting it. The Shannon sorting office will not deliver to us and we are getting our mail from Newmarket-on-Fergus five miles further away. "Shannon does collect our evening mail so I can't understand why they will not deliver.".
Mr Moore has also accused An Post of ignoring him and his issues. An Post has said however, that the difficulties in Shannon are not the fault of the company.
"Unfortunately this incident demonstrates a serious lack of interest in customer service and company procedure on the part of the Communications Workers Union in Shannon and Limerick," a spokeswoman said.
An Post confirmed last month that arrangements were made for Shannon postal staff to collect outgoing mail each evening from these companies.
However, "on October 21st, without informing either the customer or the company of its intention, the Limerick branch of the CWU instructed Shannon staff to cease the customer's collections. This action is in direct contravention of agreed procedures for processing issues and grievances."
After An Post intervened, collections from the companies did resume in November.
The long-running row between An Post and the CWU is centred on demands by the union that its members get pay increases due under the Sustaining Progress agreement without these being linked to changes in work practices. Mr Moore has also confirmed that An Post has not been in touch with either company in relation to the matter.
A comment from An Post on the issue is still awaited.