Tag: Republic of Ireland

An Post, which up until recently could not pay the terms of Sustaining Progress, intends to spend EUR30 million next year on upgrading its security systems and renovating its buildings. This year the company spent about EUR7 million on capital projects, but according to estimates submitted to the Department of Finance the company will spend EUR30 million in 2006. This represents an increase of more than 300 per cent. A spokeswoman for the company said about EUR15 million was earmarked for a major security upgrade to the retail operations of the company. This will involve installing new security features, including CCTV and alarms, in many of the company’s 1,614 post offices. An Post said it was responding to increased threats to some of its post offices, particularly in isolated rural areas. The remainder of the funds will be used to upgrade regional offices, extend some mail centres and bring in fresh IT equipment. One of the reasons for this is that An Post is trying to re-integrate the parcels business SDS back into its core mail operation. This operation was closed last year.

A threatened strike in Ireland’s national postal service was averted Wednesday when the major labor union accepted a compromise ruling from the Irish Labour Court. The 10-page ruling called for directors of An Post to give workers a previously agreed 5 percent raise immediately and a further 2.5 percent raise next May. The Communication Workers Union, which represents about 8,500 workers at An Post, said they would accept the proposal and cancel their previous plan to strike before Christmas.

Accountants Grant Thornton are due to report back to the National Implementation Body (NIB) today with their analysis of the cost of various new measures An Post would like to introduce.

A brief history of the story up to now is that An Post refused to pay wage increases under the National Partnership agreement until certain work practices were changed as part of the deal.

The State postal company called on a clause in the national wage agreement, namely inability to pay, to make its case. It seems that An Post can’t pay.

Two years ago, it was losing 40m per year and its extraordinary work practice legacy issues means that it has an overtime bill of around 40m per year.

Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey was called on yesterday to intervene after An Post outsourced 30 jobs in response to industrial action by staff on Monday. Staff who returned to work at the company’s customer services section at the GPO in Dublin following the removal of pickets were told their jobs had been outsourced to a call centre in Clonakilty, Co Cork. They remained on the payroll yesterday but had only minimal duties. The company’s action sparked a new row with the Communications Workers’ Union, which organised Monday’s 18-hour action in pursuit of a pay claim. It called off the industrial action at the request of the National Implementation Body (NIB), which is this week overseeing an independent examination of costs in dispute between the two sides.

Postal services will begin returning to normal today after the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) suspended industrial action by its members in An Post.
The company advised customers last night to resume posting mail, but warned of likely delays in deliveries over the coming days. The union’s national overtime ban and strike at the GPO in Dublin lasted just 18 hours, ending at 6pm following a meeting of its disputes committee. The committee acceded to a request by the National Implementation Body (NIB) that the action be deferred pending an independent examination of costs in dispute between the parties. The CWU wants changes in four areas to a Labour Court recommendation issued in July on major work practice changes required by An Post in its collection and delivery service.