POSTAL deliveries in the Dublin area may be delayed from today because of renewed industrial unrest at An Post's Dublin Mail Centre.
Deliveries of incoming international mail, which are processed through the centre, will be affected.
The dispute has developed out of a two day strike in January. Postal workers say some of, the main recommendations contained in a peace formula proposed then by the Labour Relations Commission have not been implemented.
Yesterday, An Post took five postal workers off the payroll for implementing an overtime ban. Since Wednesday, staff have been refusing to allow a backlog of incoming international mail to be diverted to other centres. The backlog arises from the resolution of a postal dispute in Britain.
The Communications Workers' Union says it is monitoring the situation. A spokesman said last night the union would ballot members for industrial action "if things get worse".
A spokesman for An Post said the company "regrets that, due to unofficial action by some members of the CWU in the Dublin Mail Centre, there will be delays in the delivery of inbound international mail and mail posted in Dublin.
"Priority services, including Passport Express, registered mail, SDS (Special Delivery Services) and EMS (Express Mail Services) are not affected.
"The company is in touch with the union and it is hoped that common sense will prevail and the unofficial action will end so that customer services are restored to normal."
The £15 million DMC employs over more than 300 staff and handles more than a million items of mail a day.