Pimvantend, CC 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The management of the Delhaize supermarket chain announced in an extraordinary council on Tuesday morning that it would like to franchise all of its remaining integrated stores, ie 128 out of 764, several union sources said, according to 7out7. The group has since confirmed the information in a press release.
According to the management, “this is the only option to continue investing in a sustainable future for Delhaize”. It ensures that no employee will lose either their job or their salary conditions, citing the reasons for the change to the greater profitability of the franchise.
The unions are against: even if the group offers guarantees, these would not be binding on the buyers of the branches. Socialist and Christian unions are also wondering about the possibility of finding buyers for all these shops, says 7sur7.
The staff of many Delhaize department stores decided to go on strike Tuesday morning after the announcement: the group’s top management had guaranteed that there would be no transition to the franchise, just a short time ago. Now, with an “announcement made in two minutes” with no room for negotiations or simple questions, everything is called into question.
Furthermore, the union does not believe the reassurances: employees will see “their working conditions deteriorate by 20 to 25%” and the gradual loss of guarantees obtained through collective agreements. Furthermore, with the franchise, collective bargaining ends: only individual agreements because the law does not provide for trade unions for shops.