Cleveland CWU wins delivery office reprieve
6th December 2011
A CWU branch-led campaign to save a Teesside delivery
office from closure has been hailed a resounding success after
Royal Mail renounced its closure plans over the weekend.
In a formal statement explaining its decision to keep Guisborough Delivery Office open, the company explained: "We constantly reviewed the original plans against a very challenging national economic and operational climate. As a result of this review we have concluded that the various benefits of this move are no longer as significant as initially anticipated."
The momentous about turn followed an exhaustive campaign launched in June, when the company announced, without any consultation with staff or the CWU, its intentions to merge the Guisborough and Redcar delivery offices and move the operation to Redcar. Led by the local CWU Cleveland amalgamated branch, the campaign attracted the support of local residents, businesses and Teesside MP, Tom Blenkinsop, drawing an impressive 5,000-plus signatures to the petition to keep the postal services in Guisborough open. The local football club even lent their support by dedicating one of their matches to the campaign.
Bob Gibson, CWU assistant secretary for
delivery members said: "The success of this campaign goes to
show how effective campaigning at local level can be. The Branch
have done a terrific job by applying pressure on the company to
listen to the needs of local residents, businesses and the staff
working in Guisborough Delivery Office they have made the company
realise the flaws in the initial plans and re-assess the real cost
of their plans on the lives of all effected."
Pete Sansum, local CWU
representative said: "This is a success to
all who cared about and wanted to continue giving our customers
within Guisborough an excellent service. I must also state that
this is not about the CWU beating Royal Mail, it's about a
campaign that we undertook to point out this was a wrong move by
the business.
"I would like to thank who ever made this decision within Royal Mail and congratulate them on doing the right thing, not just for the business, but the customers, residents and community we serve."
