An Post is continuing begun talks with representatives of the Labour Relations Commission this evening but as the discussions resumed this evening the company has started sealing postboxes in Dublin.
An Post representatives began the meeting with the LRC at 3.30. Members of the Communications Workers' Union were due to hold similar discussions at 4.30 p.m. After a brief break the talks resumed this evening.
Postal services in many areas, including Dublin city and county, have deteriorated as the row between An Post and the union over restructuring the debt-ridden company intensified.
A company spokesman said they had begun sealing postboxes in Dublin city and the action will be spreading out to Dublin county and other areas affected by the dispute.
The company suspended more staff at its Dublin Mail Centre in Clondalkin yesterday, taking to 523 the number suspended for refusing to carry out management instructions.
Another 93 temporary staff at delivery offices in the capital could have their contracts suspended today as the company says there is no work for them.
Both sides yesterday accepted an invitation from the LRC to attend exploratory talks this afternoon.
They will meet separately and there are no immediate plans for direct talks. The CWU says it will not address substantive issues until the suspended staff have been reinstated.
On RTE's Morning Ireland, LRC chief executive Mr Kieran Mulvey said it was prudent to invite both sides to have separate talks to assess their respective positions.
Mr Mulvey expressed his hope that it would be possible to explore the options and potential for a framework of negotiations today.
The An Post spokesman added that in accepting the invitation, it had made the point to the LRC that the company had "serious reservations" about the willingness of the union to deliver on the outcome of any talks.
About 60 per cent of the State's post is processed at the Dublin Mail Centre and the dispute has lead to only a fraction of post being delivered.
An Post is asking customers not to post to or from the following areas: Dublin city and county, Bray, Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Drogheda, Dundalk, Kells, Greystones, Navan, Tuam and Wicklow. International post has also been halted by the row.
The Department of Social and Family Affairs has set up collection centres, where cheques can be picked up a day after the normal payment date.