Mail strike will hit the nation hard

Postal services throughout many parts of the country will be disrupted next Monday because An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union have failed to resolve a dispute which has been festering for the last two years.

It is almost inconceivable that during that lengthy period the two sides were unable to arrive at a compromise which would have averted the disruption, which will now hit mostly rural areas.

Last year An Post, for the first time in a decade, recorded a loss. Despite a 9% increase in turnover to 625 million, the company had operating losses of 6.7m in 2001. Just 12 months earlier it had reported a profit of 9.8m.

During the last three years it is estimated that up to 100 “uneconomical” offices were closed around the country.

Recently, An Post chairman Stephen O’Connor warned that postal services could face major cutbacks unless the company could fully implement a strategic plan to return it to profit by 2004.

The company has signed agreements to enable customers of AIB and the ESB access to services through its network of 1,800 offices and these are expected to increase turnover by 6% in a full year.

However, to achieve that economic improvement, An Post will need the goodwill and services, of the IPU members who run the vast bulk of those outlets.

Since 1997, they have received pay increases of 72% and another of 15% is due in October, but the IPU argues that those increases were onto a very low base in the first place.

Their dispute involves allowances for early morning work, which they maintain are insufficient.

They further claim that staff are not being paid any consideration in respect of other functions they carry out.

If their threat is carried out, and it looks as if it will, postal deliveries throughout many parts of the country will be seriously disrupted.

Unfortunately, this will particularly affect students in rural areas who have just received the results of their Leaving Certificate examinations, and would be expecting their CAO offers next week.

The extent of the disruption can be gauged from the fact that of the State’s 1,800 post offices, An Post staff manage just 100 of them, and the remainder are run by members of the IPU.

They manage these on a sub contracting basis, and these sub post offices are a vital part of the life of towns throughout the country, especially in Cork, Limerick and Kerry.