The Irish operations of United Parcel Service (UPS), the international courier company, have been largely unaffected by the strike which has affected the company in the US, a spokesman said yesterday.

The Irish operational headquarters are at Glasnevin, Dublin. The company also has centres at Tallaght and Ballymount in Dublin, and Cork and Shannon. The strike by 185,000 US employees, members of the Teamsters union, was having some affect on imports from the US but the Irish operations were largely domestic-based, he said.

Volumes of packages to the US had grown constantly in recent years, reflecting the numbers of US subsidiaries which had set up in Ireland. UPS Ireland, which is five years old, had over 600 employees, most of whom were full-time, he added. A spokeswoman for UPS Europe said the strike was having no impact on industrial relations at its European base. The Teamsters union is not represented in Europe.

The strike, which began on Monday, occurred after negotiations over employees' pay and the conditions of part-timers failed to be resolved. A statement from UPS Europe said no new negotiations had been scheduled with the Teamsters.

The statement said there was some effect on imports from the US, but that the 24,000 European employees were working as usual.

Services were continuing within Europe, worldwide, and to and from the US. "Import volume from the US which arrives in Europe later today (Tuesday) is expected to be somewhat impacted," it said.

US operations were continuing on a contingency basis, "relying on management and other non-Teamster employees".