Salad bar owner 'does have licence'
Blockaded Gothenburg salad bar Wild'n Fresh does have a licence to serve food, local authorities have said, after previously threatening to shut down the establishment.
Owner Sofia Appelgren insisted all along that she went through all the proper application procedures and was expecting written confirmation from the council. Now the council has confirmed her story
"It is not our plan to close the salad bar, as long as the owner, Sofia Appelgren, provides additional information within two weeks," said Daniel Eek from the city's Environment and Health authority.
The authorities were contacted on Monday by unions, who are campaigning against Appelgren's refusal to sign their collective agreements. Daniel Eek was quoted as saying that the salad bar does not have a licence.
"I am going to go over there to recommend the owner to shut down," he told Metro at the time.
Now a more conciliatory tone has emerged from the council.
"When [the union] called, I did not have access to a register or records so I said we would look on Tuesday to see whether there was a licence or not," he said. The records showed on Tuesday that Appelgren had indeed been granted a temporary licence, which was due to be converted to a permanent licence in two weeks if she fulfils certain conditions.
The Hotel and Restaurant Union meanwhile plans to widen its blockade today. It has called on four other trade unions to stage a sympathy strike.
The organisations in question are the Municipal Workers’ Union, the Transport Workers' Union, the Food Workers' Union, and the Union of Commercial Workers.
"We're just going according to the book as regards the handling of this type of conflict," said restaurant union ombudsman Dag Fransson.
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Owner Sofia Appelgren insisted all along that she went through all the proper application procedures and was expecting written confirmation from the council. Now the council has confirmed her story
"It is not our plan to close the salad bar, as long as the owner, Sofia Appelgren, provides additional information within two weeks," said Daniel Eek from the city's Environment and Health authority.
The authorities were contacted on Monday by unions, who are campaigning against Appelgren's refusal to sign their collective agreements. Daniel Eek was quoted as saying that the salad bar does not have a licence.
"I am going to go over there to recommend the owner to shut down," he told Metro at the time.
Now a more conciliatory tone has emerged from the council.
"When [the union] called, I did not have access to a register or records so I said we would look on Tuesday to see whether there was a licence or not," he said. The records showed on Tuesday that Appelgren had indeed been granted a temporary licence, which was due to be converted to a permanent licence in two weeks if she fulfils certain conditions.
The Hotel and Restaurant Union meanwhile plans to widen its blockade today. It has called on four other trade unions to stage a sympathy strike.
The organisations in question are the Municipal Workers’ Union, the Transport Workers' Union, the Food Workers' Union, and the Union of Commercial Workers.
"We're just going according to the book as regards the handling of this type of conflict," said restaurant union ombudsman Dag Fransson.
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