Local reps hit out as An Post considers closure or consolidation of two Cork sorting offices
An Post is due to begin a nationwide review of its postal network as part of a wider “transformation programme”.
Local representatives have reacted sharply to reports that An Post might be considering the closure or consolidation of two separate Cork sorting offices.
In a statement to on Tuesday, An Post said that while no decision had been taken, it confirmed that it is considering the movement of staff from its Midleton sorting office to Little Island and/or “the possible development of facilities at Macroom to incorporate Macroom and Ballincolling delivery offices”.
An Post is due to begin a nationwide review of its postal network as part of a wider “transformation programme” agreed with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents some 8,500 of An Post’s 9,000 employees.
Under the agreement, which will see the consolidation of a limited number of mail delivery offices, postmen and postwomen will receive pay increases of 5%, clerical staff will receive increases of 3%, while managerial grades will benefit from an improved performance pay structure.
Staff will also receive a €750 tax-free voucher.
The pay increases follow a 5% pay increase last year and a 10.4% pensions increase for An Post staff and pensioners, the final elements of which pension increases are awaiting Government approval.
The transformation programme agreed between An Post and the CWU is due to begin early in June and is expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2024.
In a statement to The Echo, An Post said it had reached agreement with the An Post group of unions on a “programme of further transformation for the company”, and it said acceleration of that programme was “critical for the sustainability and long term future of our business and the customers we serve every day”.
The company said a key feature of that programme would be new target operating models across the company including its mails and parcels network.
An Post said it would be looking at new ways of improving its services, including “handling more parcels as home shopping and ecommerce become the norm, building a sustainable future and considering our impact on the environment and improving working facilities for our staff. This will involve some changes in our network over time.” The company said the initial process of looking at the delivery offices and their delivery routes would begin next month.
“Among the possible changes being considered are: staff from Midleton delivery office being based at the Cork Delivery Campus at Little island; and: possible development of facilities at Macroom to incorporate Macroom and Ballincolling delivery offices," An Post added.
Sinn Féin TD for East Cork, Pat Buckley, described the suggested moves as “an absolutely bonkers scenario”.
“Under these plans, you’ll have no parcel office from Little Island down as far as Dungarvan, so if this goes ahead, Ballycotton, Cloyne, Killeagh, Castlemartyr, Lisgoold, Leamlara, Midleton, Carrigtwohill, nearly half of the East Cork electoral area, will have no parcel office,” Mr Buckley said.
“Only a year and a half ago An Post installed 30 changing points in Ballinacurra and I suspect they didn’t come cheap.
“Clearly there was very little discussion with employees and the unions locally from what I have been told.
“Local services should remain local and I am calling on Minister Eamon Ryan to engage with An Post and the local employees and union to reverse this decision,” he said.
In Ballincollig, former Lord Mayor of Cork city, councillor Colm Kelleher said it was “very alarming” to hear the news that Ballincollig and Midleton had been identified as two possible targets for closure or consolidation.
“Here in Ballincollig, we have on average, on any given day, 19 postmen and postwomen servicing their own duty rosters around Ballincollig, and these are local jobs, people who are locally based in the village, and under what’s being spoken about there are talks that they would have to relocate to Macroom and all post to Ballincollig would be routed out of Macroom via Little Island,” the Fianna Fáil councillor said.
“It’s counterproductive, in my opinion, in that at least 26 locally based jobs in the sorting office itself, and the 19 postpeople on duty on any given day, are all locally based, and they would now be expected to drive from Ballincollig to Macroom, collect Ballincollig’s post, and drive back to Ballincollig, deliver the post, drive back to Macroom, and then drive back to their homeplace in Ballincollig.
Councillor Kelleher said Ballincollig’s sorting office was “at the heart of the village” and he called on An Post to reconsider the proposal.
“I am standing fully behind Ballincollig’s An Post workers, and I am saying that as part of an expanded city, it makes no sense to move Ballincollig’s sorting office out to the heart of the county,” Cllr Kelleher said.
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