Retired post office workers protest in Tipperary over pension issues

Retired post office workers gathered outside the post office in Thurles Shopping last Friday in protest of their current pension arrangements.

Organised by Post Office Pensioners United, the protests are ongoing nationwide.

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Outrage among the group comes from the rate increases the workers were once promised, which they say are not being adhered to.

Speaking with the Tipperary Star, former post office clerk, and one of the Tipperary POPU leaders John Stokes, outlined the concerns of the workers.

“Basically this protest is just a continuation of a protest being going on since the pension accord happened in 2013 between the post office and the unions, when all pensions were under pressure at that stage. So a pension accord was set up, basically to address the fund issue. Now the fund issue has been addressed since. The fund was in the red, now it's in the black. The review was promised after seven years, about 2020 but the pension accord itself was basically that any staff rises, which would normally continue on to the pensioner, we’ll say, if they got 10%, we got 10%, but the pension accord came in and that said you're only going to get 2% or the CPI, and the CPI could be zero. So basically, you'd end up with 2% or zero, plus the fact that we had to jump through hoops, even when the pension would have been agreed to give to the pensioners, they would have to jump through hoops, a new era was set up to look at, can we afford to give it them? Is the fund good enough to give it them? Then we had to wait for various ministers to sign off on it. It could take a year from the time that it was promised and the time you would actually get it. That basically is where we're at at the moment, and we have got some increases since, but we're still way down on where our pension rights should be.”

Former An Post overseer and fellow member of POPU Pat Griffin outlined some of the hopes for the group going forward.

“A postman who retired in 2016 to date, he has lost about €13,000 on basic salary alone. I mean, like for some of the lower paid people in this country, whatever, that's not sustainable. That's a lot of money to a lowly paid person. It was supposed to be reviewed in 2023. It's not been reviewed, and even in 2025 An Post made no contribution at all to the pension fund. So we're wondering what is going on there. Next Wednesday, the Post Office Pensioners United, POPU, as we call ourselves, we're with a Dáil committee, chaired by Alan Kelly, PSE, on Wednesday at half 12, so we're hoping something will be highlighted there and that we might get some answers about the whole thing.”

John outlined how promises were made which they feel are not being adhered to, stating that when An Post became a semi-state company, they were told they would continue to be treated as civil servants.

“First of all, that the pension accord will be finished with, as it was promised at the time, and all pension rights will be restored. That if the staff gets 4% we will get 4%. Plus on top of this, in 1983 when we came from a civil service body to a semi-state company, the 1983 Post and Telecommunications Act promised that we would be treated no worse than we would be to semi-state. In other words, we will continue to be treated as civil servants, vis-à-vis pay and pensions. That has been ignored entirely by both the company and, unfortunately, the union as well. So we're hoping that those pensioners, first of all, their situation will be readressed, and they will always be treated as civil servants. In other words, that 4% will mean 4% not 2% are the CPI or zero. So basically, that we're at when, hopefully all those pension rights will be restored and people will get the money they’re entitled to.”

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Pat spoke of how it was announced at the same time that both An Post and Eircom workers would receive the same pension rights going forward, but that retired Eircom workers are not facing the same issues that retired An Post workers are currently facing.

“At the time there was two companies obviously being set up from the old department of PNT, An Post and Eircom at the time. Eircom have no issue with their pensions, but An Post seems to be the poor relative in it. And before it was brought in, the late Jim Mitchell TD confirmed and promised everyone in the Dáil that we would hold the same rights we had before the act and before vesting day, the first of January 1984, that would carry forward into the future. And now this company, An Post, have thrown that out the window.”

John spoke of the ongoing protests, which began earlier in the decade, and how the group have protested at major centres across the country.

“We didn't feel that our rights were being represented by the union. They said, when you're retired, you're not a member of the union anymore, so they never bothered trying to represent us at An Post level. We have also had protests in various major offices. Between the GPO, the Cork GPO and Limerick as well. And today, it's ongoing, between all the smaller offices between here and Dublin. So we have a number of people like ourselves protesting in all those offices who have been adversely affected by this.

“The pension fund would have been signed off by the accountants, would have been examined by the trustees, and everything would have been agreed, but that's still not good enough when it arrives at New Era who are set up to examine all pension funds. But since the pension fund went into the black, they're still going through the same process as if they don't trust the trustees, they don't trust the accountants who have signed off on it. So and then when it comes to the minister, he apparently has to spend another six to eight weeks, looking at it again for no apparent reason whatsoever, Plus, the fact that the fund is fully resourced now, and the company then took this opportunity, with the help of the Union, unfortunately, to reduce their contribution from 14.8% down To 7% and I think currently, down to zero. So you could say if the fund is in trouble, it’s because the company have dropped their contribution completely. Now, fortunately, the fund is okay at the moment, but it won't continue in that way if they continue not to contribute anything to it.”

Local representatives have been active on the matter, with John and Pat commending Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry and former Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill for their work on bringing light to the matter.

“Michael Lowry was one of the guys we met, and he did represent us in the Dáil, raised the question, but unfortunately, again, they were gaslighted to some extent and just said ‘It's not our issue, you have to refer to this’,” said John.

“Jackie Cahill deserves a great mention because he brought it up in the Dáil one day as well, and he asked all the relevant questions. He was brilliant, and very supportive when he was a TD,” added Pat.