Postal workers threaten more pre-Christmas strikes

Postal workers have not ruled out further disruptions before Christmas after a one-day stoppage today, it has emerged.

Up to 8,000 mail staff marched through Dublin city this afternoon and held a demo outside Leinster House.

They are protesting over a pay dispute with management and its plans to break up the Special Delivery Service (SDS) parcel subsidiary.

No post was delivered today as 93 post offices around the country closed.

Communications minister Noel Dempsey today said he accepted that the workers had grievances but they should air them in the proper manner.

“Disrupting the mail service for customers, businesses and householders is not the way forward in this,” he said.

He called on the unions to use official channels to negotiate with An Post management.

“Not all avenues there have been exhausted yet.

“With goodwill moving forward we might be able to do something. The solution isn’t a simple one and has wider implications.”

The striking Communications Workers Union members said they did their best to ensure minimum disruption, including payment of 30,000 welfare cheques.

National organiser Sean McDonagh added: “The CWU executive will meet tomorrow to consider any response from An Post and Minister Dempsey.

“We will decide then if or when we will take further action.

“Staff cannot be expected to take low pay with the cost of living rising so sharply around them.”

Mr McDonagh said the break up of SDS would make 400 staff redundant and affect 400 others indirectly.

Earlier, Mr Dempsey said he didn’t want to see Royal Mail delivering the post service in 2009 “but that’s what we’re looking at if people don’t sit down around a table and work out a solution to this and forget about past differences”.

A spokesperson for An Post said the CWU members were breaching agreed industrial relations procedures and undermining public confidence in the mail system.