Steps taken to resolve An Post crisis

Communications Minister Noel Dempsey stepped in last night to try to resolve the growing crisis at An Post. Only days after more than 4,000 postal sorters rejected a proposed 5.35pc pay deal in return for cuts in jobs and overtime, the minister met with management and the Communications Workers Union in Dublin. In a pre-Christmas plea, Mr Dempsey urged both sides to work in partnership to overcome their current difficulties and “plan for the future of the company”. He also underlined the commercial challenges facing the company in the short to medium-term in the context of a fully liberalized European postal market in five years time.