An Post to sue union for lost earnings after one-day strike

An Post management was last night preparing to sue the postal workers’ union to recover revenue lost through yesterday’s one-day official strike.

A total of 93 post offices, all of them large offices run totally by An Post, were closed by yesterday’s action, though more than 1,200 sub-offices remained open.

A well-supported protest march by An Post workers, who were joined by retired colleagues, caused disruption in Dublin city centre yesterday.

High-powered lawyers will be engaged by An Post in a bid to recover assets from the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU). The tough stance taken by management, in addition to withholding pay rises for 9,000 staff and some An Post pensioners, will increase the workers’ annoyance when the union’s executive meets today.

An Post chief executive Donal Curtin and operations director Larry Donald have ordered management to take a hard line with the union.

The company last night revealed that some postmen are earning over 1,300 every week.

A spokeswoman said one postman in Galway was earning over 70,000 a year before tax and PRSI.

This is over three times his basic rate and is mainly boosted by what she termed “block overtime”, much of which might not be actually worked.

Union chiefs were bolstered by the success of yesterday’s industrial action and protest march in Dublin in which up to 8,000 participated. Many were postal pensioners who have been deprived of 11 a week due under the national wage agreement.

And CWU general secretary Steve Fitzpatrick last night warned that his union’s executive may demand more industrial action before Christmas unless Mr Curtin or Communications Minister Noel Dempsey take moves to defuse the situation.

A spokeswoman confirmed the board of An Post decided two months ago to pay the national pay rises to the pensioners but not the employees. However, this has still not been done as management fears it could strengthen the CWU’s case for payment and weaken its claims of an inability to pay.

For the past year the CWU has refused to use the Sustaining Progress procedures of seeking a Labour Relations Commission (LRC) assessment of the management’s inability-to-pay assertions, which would be binding on all sides.

Mr Fitzpatrick said that repeated management decisions to ignore LRC-brokered agreements and unilateral announcements had destroyed his members’ trust in referring the pay issue to the LRC.

The Irish Congress of Trades Unions is expected to intervene if Mr Curtin proceeds with his legal action to recover yesterday’s losses. Last night the extent of these losses was being calculated by accountants within the company.

It would be the first attempt by a semi-state company to sequester union assets or buildings in many decades, but failure to pursue the union for damages would further weaken the management’s credibility.

Last March Mr Curtin forced a dispute which led to a two-week disruption but he had to surrender by rehiring 600 staff and offering them special overtime.