THE Labour Relations Commission has intervened in the strike involving 500 clerical workers at An Post. Management and the union representing the strikers, the Civil and Public Service Union (CPSU) are to meet at the commission this morning.
A company spokesman said last night that services to customers are being maintained.
The union has extended its pickets from the GPO in Dublin and College House, where the vast majority of its members work, to the Dublin Mail Centre and the SDS parcel service on the Naas Road.
However, only a handful of CPSU members are at these locations and postal deliveries have not been affected because most of the employees are in the Communications Workers' Union.
That could change if the CPSU is successful in its application to obtain an all out picket from the ICTU. The congress is unlikely to hear the application before the LRC attempts to resolve the dispute.
The action follows a company decision to recruit a secretary externally and pay the successful applicant £100 a week more than would have been paid to a successful internal applicant.
Talks between the CPSU and An Post on a return to work broke down yesterday morning. The union said the company offer of £100 per member and a promise of more promotional opportunities was inadequate.