Members in Harrogate save canteen
23rd July 2012
Postwomen and postmen at Harrogate Delivery Office in
Yorkshire have backed the union's "Use it or Lose it"
campaign and saved their canteen from closure, reports CWU north
east divisional rep Steve Halliwell.
"Since the beginning of May, weekly cash takings in the
Harrogate canteen have risen from £150 to £350 - which is
a huge leap and shows what can be achieved if we all work
together," he said.
The union launched the national "Use it or Lose it" campaign back in May following negotiations with Royal Mail aimed at saving 140 delivery office canteens, which the company initially planned to close.
But, under the terms of the agreement reached, any canteen under
threat of closure goes into a 12-week review process, during which
revenue, footfall and day-to-day usage are assessed by the
divisional rep and the Royal Mail management counterpart.
And if the canteen shows increased revenue, then it can be saved
from the "under-threat" list - as Harrogate has been.
"What's happened at Harrogate proves that,
if delivery office workers back the union's campaign, use their
canteen and take advantage of the excellent value for money it
provides, then these facilities can be saved," Steve
continued.
"But canteens can be lost if they're not
supported," he warned, adding that within his division, some
canteens have not met the agree criteria and have been closed.
"In my division, there are 21 canteens still on the list
and under assessment and the majority of them are moving in the
right direction thanks to the campaign - we need to step up our
efforts to try to save them all."
Please take a look at the Use it or Lose it
campaign page here and show your support on Facebook.
