Staff in dispute with An Post refuse to handle euro coin starter packs

The distribution of new euro coin starter packs was disrupted when staff in the majority of the State's sub-post offices refused to sell them yesterday.

While strikes marred the arrival of euro coins in France, the Irish Postmasters' Union (IPU) instructed its members not to handle the starter packs. IPU members wanted extra money for the additional work involved in switching to the euro, according to the union's general secretary, Mr John Kane.

The refusal to sell the coins surprised An Post, which had put an offer to the union.

"Customers were obviously disappointed but most of them know our people well and their explanation was readily accepted," Mr Kane said.

The IPU has members in around 1,650 of the State's 1,800 post office facilities, according to Mr Kane. He regretted the action taken by staff but said they deserved compensation for the work involved in handling euro transactions. IPU members, who are paid on a fee-per-item basis, had been seeking a deal since August but had yet to receive an acceptable offer, he said. They were attempting to negotiate a similar deal to that agreed for bank employees recently.

An Post's head of communications, Mr John Foley, described the IPU's instruction to its members as "disappointing".

"We were surprised because so far as we were concerned we made an offer and then heard they weren't co-operating," he said.

"It deprived a number of people of the opportunity of buying packs and becoming familiar with the new money before January."

However, he noted that IPU members in some post offices did not receive the union instruction in time and sold the euro packs yesterday morning. Mr Foley said the majority of packs supplied to post offices went to outlets directly owned by An Post.

The 22,500 packs allocated to the GPO in Dublin were sold by lunchtime, while the post office on St Andrew's Street had sold all of its 7,500 packs by 10 a.m. The coins also sold well at outlets in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, which were given 7,500 packs each. Banks were also reporting a brisk trade in the packs.

In Dublin's Moore Street yesterday, traders examining the new currency for the first time were primarily concerned that their elderly customers would have difficulty using the euro coins.

Others were more pragmatic, including fruit and vegetable seller Betty Kennedy.

"You can give out about it but it's what we're all going to be dealing with. It's money, and people don't make mistakes with money," she said.