The row over pay and productivity at An Post is to be formally referred to the Labour Court later this week.
Prior to the referral, Labour Relations Commission facilitator Tom Pomphrett will meet An Post management and the Communications Workers' Union on Thursday to finalise the agenda for the Labour Court negotiations.
Those talks are unlikely to get underway before the New Year because of pressure on the Labour Court's facilities.
Earlier, the CWU announced that 95% of members had rejected a pay and productivity deal involving a 5.35% pay rise in return for significant cost-cutting reforms.
Of 4,315 votes cast, only 195 supported the company's reforms.
Last week, thousands of An Post staff staged a one-day strike and a march through Dublin in protest at alleged breaches of agreements by the company.
However, the union has undertaken not to disrupt postal services again before Christmas.
It is understood that the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey, will also meet management and unions later this week.
