An Post to shed 270 jobs in loss-making courier division

WORKERS were shocked and “betrayed” last night at An Post’s announcement that it will seek 270 job cuts in its loss making parcels and courier division, SDS.

An Post wants these voluntary redundancies because SDS has lost €30 million over the past five years. These latest redundancies will push to 1,800 the number of job cuts the company is seeking as part of a major restructuring plan.

An Post chief executive Donal Curtin said the decision was regrettable but unavoidable because the company had suffered major losses due to high fixed costs, inflexibility and intensive price competition.

“Moving the central parcels hub from Dublin to Portlaoise will enable the company to be more efficient and effective,” Mr Curtin added.

The decision to revamp SDS, which last year shed 114 jobs and saw the introduction of owner/driver operators, is part of management attempts to return An Post to financial stability. The company reported operating losses of €43 million for 2003.

Mr Curtin said losses at SDS have been a serious drain on An Post finances and this action would be a major benefit.

An Post employs 450 workers at six separate SDS sites, as well as 46 owner/driver operators. Once the redundancy package has been agreed, the remaining 180 workers will be reintegrated back into An Post’s mail collection and delivery operations.

But the Communications Workers Union, which represents the majority of the workers, said they were shocked last night to hear the news.

CWU general secretary Steve Fitzpatrick said: “The workers feel betrayed - we were in the middle of a rescue plan and an attempt to save the company but An Post made this announcement without consulting us beforehand.”

Mr Fitzpatrick said SDS workers had been extremely flexible in trying to make the latest rescue plan work. “One of the consultants asked to review the rescue plan said that management were not committed to it - we feel the plan has been sabotaged,” Mr Fitzpatrick added.

Meanwhile, Communications Minister Dermot Ahern said An Post made several efforts to try to sell or find a partner for SDS but there were no takers. In light of its losses, An Post had no other option, the minister added.

But Labour accused the minister of allowing An Post to stumble from crisis to crisis and called on him to advance the restructuring plan for the company.

Senator Derek McDowell appealed to the Minister and to management at An Post to keep job losses at SDS to a minimum.

“This development is symptomatic of the ongoing worrying drift in the fortunes of An Post,” he said.

Fine Gael called on An Post to explain why they do not have the capacity to deliver this much-needed express postal service.

Their communications spokesman Deputy Simon Coveney said: “Management have a responsibility to ensure that the people directly affected are the first to be informed.”