This article is from page 2 of the 2005-10-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
ONGOING delays with postal services in Clare have been blown out of all pro- portion according to An Post.
The organisation blamed sections of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) for exacerbating the worries of the public by spreading miss-informa- tion about the quality of service being provided by An Post.
According to Anna McHugh, spokes- person for An Post, the CWU is trying to deflect attention away from the ballot on possible industrial action currently being Ce Sor6 b
“It most certainly is blown out of pro- portion and their is massive propaganda and mis-information being spread about mail centres, volumes and quality of service” she said on Monday.
She also stated that An Post wouldn’t be able to guarantee next day delivery until
new work practices had been adopted.
“Quality of service is not where we want it to be and that’s why we need these work practice changes. The target set out by COMREG 1s 94% and we have someway to go before achieving that fig- ure, but we are addressing the whole is- sue of timing to do with Clare and have given it a priority”.
The CWU has decided to ballot its members on possible industrial action after a failure by An Post to pay wage in- creases under the current national wage deal Sustaining Progress.
Staff at the Post Office in Ennis have been forced to work longer hours since the introduction of a new mail delivery system, which sees all mail distributed through regional mail centres. The de- livery delays, which are now into their second month, have been the source of much frustration to local residents and the business community.
Just last week Pat Breen T.D. high- lighted the problem when he claimed that only one in four letters posted within Clare were been delivered the next day. According to Rita McInerney from the Ennis Chamber of Commerce business- es in Ennis are bearing the brunt of An Post’s new policy.
She has criticised the reliability of the new delivery system which she said 1m- poses an extra cost on businesses.
“It is an extra expense. A lot of busi- nesses in Ennis have had to register their post because An Post can’t guarantee the service’.
She added that businesses were often forced to follow up postal deliveries with phone calls or faxes to ensure they had been delivered.
‘That is time delaying and in this day and age we should have an up to date postal system.”