I will not take the full time because other Deputies may wish to speak on this matter. I regret that for the second time in recent months I have been obliged to raise in the House a staff relations dispute in the Post Office. The Minister and the House may recall that the first one I raised was in Cork city recently in the engineering depot where a protracted dispute was finally resolved after the Minister and his Department paid some direct attention to the views expressed by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Irish Post Office Engineering Union. That dispute was resolved after some considerable difficulty.
I regret that I must again raise the question of the dispute in the constituency I represent. For the past 16 days, some 70 staff in the Blackrock, County Dublin, Post Office, postmen, drivers and sorters, have refused to work new duty arrangements or rosters. As the House may be aware, this dispute was triggered off by the suspension of one of the men concerned who refused to carry out the new duty. For some years past I have been aware of the very poor staff relations in this postal district. When I was on the Government side of the House, local Deputies were aware of the excessive degree of friction and unrest in the district, disputes concerning issues of supervision, inspection and negotiations on new duties, and lack of consultation about the introduction of such new duties. These have been known for some time to the post office management side and the trade union concerned, the Post Office Workers' Union, have been aware of a deterioration in staff relations and, on occasions, they warned the management side of the prospects of serious trouble.
In the Blackrock area, in Monkstown, Deansgrange, Booterstown, Mount Merrion and parts of Leopardstown and Stillorgan, there has been no letter or parcel delivery for three weeks. About 1,000 bags of parcel and letter mail are affected, presumably lying in Sheriff Street awaiting transmission to Blackrock for delivery. As all Deputies for the constituency know, the effects are becoming widespread and the hardship caused has reached such proportions that we as public representatives have no option but to raise an industrial dispute of this nature in this House. This is not the best place for the settlement of an industrial dispute. By and large we do not make political issues of such matters across the floor of the House, but we have no option but to raise this matter here. Pensioners may be awaiting company pension cheques. Employment is also being affected in the area in companies like Glenabbey, Dublin Crystal and the Skerries Shirt Company. Almost everybody in the area is affected by this dispute. People are becoming more and more irate at the prospect of not much progress being made towards a settlement.
I have excellent relations with the Minister and the Minister of State, but I must confess I view with some amazement their lack of direct involvement in the settlement of this dispute. When the Minister took office in July, there was a flurry about a flowery part of the manifesto which spoke about a review and an effort being made to improve staff relations in the Post Office. This was greeted with some respect at the time. The Post Office Workers' Union did not write to the Minister until about August to give him some time to settle in. I understand the union wrote to the Minister in August and have heard nothing from him since, and this is January 1978. Unless I am profoundly mistaken, the Post Office Workers' Union have had no meeting with either the Minister or the Minister of State, notwithstanding the fact that such a meeting was requested to discuss staff relations generally in the Post Office. Therefore, it is no surprise to me that in Blackrock we have this kind of situation. I do not know what the Ministers are doing, whether they are popping in and out of the GPO, or just doing constituency work. This Department were abused when Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien was Minister. He was on the receiving end in regard to many matters. Now two Ministers are responsible and nothing much seems to be done.
I hope there will be consultations in the very near future. Otherwise, at the annual conference of the Post Office Workers' Union shortly some very sharp things will be said to the Ministers concerned. The Minister should state the position in regard to Blackrock. It is regrettable that it developed into an unofficial strike. Because of the pressure and the local friction it finished up on that note. As a trade unionist I deplore unofficial strikes, but degrees of aggravation can arise; then when people are told to do new duties, they refuse and confrontation takes place. The Minister should intervene. The old roster duties should be continued for an interim period. Clearcut negotiations on the new duties should commence immediately. Both sides should be helped to clear the air or some of the side issues including some personality issues.
For this reason I would ask the Minister to intervene and to consult directly with the Post Office Workers' Union in an effort to resolve the matter. A lot more could be said which perhaps might better not be said. I understand that meetings by the men concerned are taking place either tonight or tomorrow night. I understand that the union officials concerned will be discussing the matter with their members. I hope the archaic structure of staff relations will be the subject of early review by the Minister. I understand that other Deputies wish to speak so I will leave it at that.