An Post crisis deepens as talks fail
Following close to six hours of intense talks with both sides Labour Relations Commission (LRC) chief executive Kieran Mulvey said there was no immediate possibility of a resolution.
"Both parties are not in a position to come to an understanding and agreement with regard to the issues in the dispute," he said.
Last night, 740 workers at An Post's Clondalkin mail centre remain suspended while 1,000 letter boxes around Dublin were sealed.
Many now fear a meltdown of the company.
Postal services in Dublin, Wicklow, Louth, Monaghan and Meath are now effectively crippled and losses at the company are running at €120,000 per working day.
In addition workers at the Dublin mail centre are now preparing for a lockout amid growing fears last night that management would attempt to crash the company.
CWU national officer Sean Mcdonald said he was convinced that today would see all employees taken off the payroll.
"I think the company's ambition is to get everyone off the payroll as quickly as possible. We know they are making plans to suspend more people," he said. However a spokesman for An Post refused to comment on whether more staff would now be suspended and declined to answer questions on whether the company could afford to continue paying workers who, because of the dispute, now have nothing to do.
"We came in here on the basis that we needed to tackle the issues facing the company. We had an engagement with them and outlined our position, but unfortunately it wasn't acceptable to the union," he said.
Meanwhile the Department of Social and Family Affairs last night said any medical certificates, disability claim forms and injury benefit claims should be handed in directly to local social welfare offices to avoid delays in payment.
Already collection centres have been set up to facilitate the 180,000 people reliant on the postal service for social welfare payments.
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