Postal service throughout the country was restored after postal workers agreed to go back to work pending new round of talks on wages and rosters. Thirty workers handling An Post’s automatic sorting machines, which handle 80% of the total mail, went on strike over new work rosters. The contractor that handles the machines, IO Systems, has been attempting to change work rosters from seven days of 12-hour shifts to five days of eight-hour shifts. Trade unions have said the change will lead to 22% reduction in pay for some workers. An IO Systems representative initially said that the conflict had dragged on for years and been referred to the Labour Court three times, which ruled in favour of IO Systems in each case. However, the massive disruption of postal services has forced the partners back to the table. The workers agreed to go back to work on the old work roster and wages, pending a new round of talks. Trade union CWU, the union representing workers at the centre of the row that halted the country's postal service for days, later on accepted proposals aimed at resolving the dispute.
English: http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/union-urges-postal-workers...
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.