Union prepares for legal action against An Post

THE Communications Workers Union (CWU) is this morning preparing for legal action in a bid to force An Post to reinstate more than 500 suspended employees.

As An Post continues to seal letterboxes in areas affected by the current dispute, union officials were confident that many of the employees taken off the payroll in recent days were illegally suspended.

CWU official Michael Bride confirmed the union was evaluating its legal options. "Our priority is to get people back to work. We are confident that we have a legal basis for that," he said.

Although the company has denied it, CWU officials fear that An Post has also sought legal advice on the possibility of letting all Dublin staff go.

A total of 556 staff have now been suspended and the company has declined to comment on the possibility of further lay offs.

Asked what would happen to hundreds of postmen now left with nothing to do a spokesman for An Post said he "could not anticipate anything at this stage".

Communications Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday called on both sides to remain in contact with the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) following the collapse of talks on Wednesday.

"Any resolution must take account of the worsening financial situation at the company and the need to address, in a partnership approach, the challenges that the company face in an increasingly competitive and liberalised market place," he said adding that the dispute was in no one's interest.

However, the CWU yesterday said it was concerned Mr Ahern appeared to be supporting An Post's actions.

The union, which yesterday decided against taking industrial action despite having a mandate to do so, renewed its call for suspended workers to be reinstated.

An Post's director of corporate and regulatory affairs, Larry Donald, in turn accused the union of refusing to honour agreements for which the company had already paid.

With postal services in affected areas now at a standstill An Post is once again asking customers not to post to or from Dublin city and county, Bray, Carrickmacross, Castleblaney, Drogheda, Dundalk, Kells, Greystones, Navan, Tuam and Wicklow.

Meanwhile, businesses and public services continued to be affected by the loss of postal services to differing degrees.

The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority yesterday advised all insurance policy holders to check the expiry dates on their policies to avoid any renewal problems.

In Dublin the Adelaide and Meath Hospital and the National Children's Hospital at Tallaght have also introduced special arrangements as appointment letters cannot be issued.

Patients should call the help line on 1800 200 489.