An Post has agreed to pay its 9,600 workers a pay rise of 5% backdated to last January.
The payment was recommended in a financial assessors report that the company published last week.
However, the 5% pay rise falls short of the 8.5% due to workers under the National Wage Agreement sustaining progress some of which should have been backdated to November 2003.
An Post described the assessors report as a fair and reasonable reflection of the overall financial employment and commercial circumstances of the company.
The company urged the An Post group of unions to engage immediately in discussions on cost offsetting measures which the assessors said would be necessary to fund the balance of pay rises sought by the workers.
The company expressed its disappointment at the unions rejecting the findings of the assessors report in its entirety saying that it was the unions who had sought to have the assessors appointed in the first instance.
A spokesperson pointed out that the assessors had highlighted that a price increase for An Post would be critical for the generation of profits to finance pay raises.
The Communications Workers’ Union said it was still seeking full payment on the terms of sustaining progress including backdating as per the sustaining progress agreement negotiated between the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Government as the sole share holder of An Post.
General secretary Stephan Fitzpatrick said the failure to pay back money in full has had harsh consequences both for the company’s current employees and its pensioners.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Communications, Noel Dempsey, has welcomed the news from An Post. He said hopefully it would pave the way for more changes in the future.
