Royal Mail announce staff nursery at Mount Pleasant to close
Where do we send our children?
Published: 20th May, 2011
by PETER GRUNER
POSTAL worker parents fear they may have to give up their jobs after the Royal Mail announced plans to close the staff nursery at Mount Pleasant.
Dozens held banners in a protest outside the sorting office in Clerkenwell yesterday (Thursday) after bosses’ said that the nursery, which opens for shift workers at 6am and closes at 10pm, is no longer cost effective.
Mother-to-be Annette Montague said: “I’ve got small children and depend on the nursery.”
And holding her 14-month-old daughter Micha, Angela McNaught, who has been a postwoman for 12 years, said: “I start work at 6.15am, how am I going to find childcare at that time of the morning? People like me are going to be forced out of work.”
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) say that postal workers are among London’s lowest paid, making free childcare facilities a vital asset for families.
Mount Pleasant CWU branch secretary Roger Charles said: “The nursery offers affordable childcare for shift workers as it’s open from 6am to 10pm. It’s the only facility like it in Royal Mail and makes a huge difference to the lives of working families.”
The Child’s Play nursery, which is run by Kiddicare, opened in 1994. It caters for up to 30 children at any one time.
A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Royal Mail has taken the difficult decision to close the crèche at Mount Pleasant mail centre in November 2011 as the number of children using it is falling and Royal Mail currently subsidises the nursery at a cost of over £160,000 per year.
“Royal Mail has given the small number of parents affected one-year’s notice of its decision and is talking to them to see how it can help them make alternative arrangements.”