Workers raging over bosses’ bonuses

AN POST workers facing up to 1,500 job losses yesterday criticised their management for accepting bonuses while warning that the company was headed for further financial losses.

Figures from An Post’s last annual report reveal that top management at the company shared a salary and bonus package of €773,000 between them last year despite knowing that losses at the company would run into millions this year.

A bonus payment of €27,000 paid to former chief executive John Hynes, who retired in July, was singled out for particular criticism by unions representing angry An Post workers.

Mr Hynes, who was unavailable for comment last night, was replaced by former ESB commercial director Donal Curtin.

Michael Bride, head of regulatory affairs and employment law with the Communications Workers’ Union, blamed management and the Department of Communications for the predicted €50m loss announced by An Post yesterday.

The projected loss under the former management was just €15.4m.

“Many people are saying that in recent years some people at that some people at management level seem to have taken their eye off the ball,” he said.

Unions and workers say they have already achieved substantial work and structural changes demanded of them by the company. They are now demanding answers as to why management was unable to make those changes benefit the company.

“The workers and the unions have engaged in a transformation process and there have been significant changes to work practices in the past three years,” said Mr Bride.

“It seems strange that the company hasn’t been able to reap the benefits of those changes.”

Fine Gael communications spokesman Simon Coveney, who is calling for the Oireachtas Communications Committee to cross-examine senior management at An Post, said he could understand the frustration of workers.

Mr Coveney said large semi-State companies had to offer attractive salaries to top level management in order to attract the best people but workers had a reasonable right to expect that high salary levels would be accompanied by solid results.

“I do think An Post’s management have some tough questions to answer,” said Mr Coveney.

“Only a few short months ago the company was predicting just a €15m loss.

“We have to call into question the management of the company as to how they could make that kind of calculation error.”

Mr Coveney also questioned the role of the Department of Communications.

“There also seems to be a break in the line of communication between company management and the minister’s office,” he said.

“How is it that the department and the minister were not aware the company was facing such drastic losses?”

A spokesman for Communications Minister Dermot Ahern said An Post management had failed to provide accurate information on the true state of affairs at the company. “The minister and the department were kept completely in the dark,” he said.

Mr Ahern has ordered a survival strategy to be produced by the company within one month.

A spokesman for An Post acknowledged the company was in a difficult situation but said that management would be up to the difficult task ahead.

“There is a mountain of work ahead of us in terms of moving forward and getting things right,” he said.

The company plans to break even by 2005 but will have to let go at least 1,500 workers to achieve that goal.