Postmasters to back offer

RURAL postmasters are expected to back a €850,000 annual deal to end their three-month dispute with An Post.

The national executive of the Irish Postmasters’ Union (IPU) last night recommended acceptance of the latest offer.

The IPU’s general secretary John Kane was confident protesting postmasters would accept the compromise. Upwards of 1,500 postmasters will be immediately balloted. Mr Kane, however, conceded before last night’s executive meeting the offer was “not the greatest deal in the world”.

The company’s spokesman John Foley last night welcomed the positive steps taken by the IPU’s national executive. “Services were not greatly disrupted and there’s no backlog in mail delivery. During the dispute, An Post continued to meet its obligations,” he said.

The compromise package, which includes a moderate pay increase for early morning and weekend work, was put together by industrial relations mediator Phil Flynn on the weekend.

The dispute had threatened major disruption before Christmas.

The deal is also believed to offer a guarantee that postmasters will not have to supervise mail sorting in the future. The mail sorting duty was central to the dispute. The postmasters were seeking €42 an hour for supervising the work before 8am.

They are currently paid €2 an hour for their early morning work. The deal further gives postmasters a backdated 1% increase which will be paid in December. The three-month dispute escalated three weeks ago when 540 rural sub-postmasters began suspending sorting facilities.