The socialist trade union BBTK says that the supermarket chain Delhaize is bucking its responsibility towards staff that work in Delhaize stores that have been franchised out. The union adds that this had led to “harrowing situations” in which staff are denied bonuses and as a result have seen their earnings fall. In a response Delhaize says that the union’s claims amount to “disinformation”.
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Unions decry "harrowing situations” at Delhaize stores that have been franchised out, Delhaize speaks of “disinformation”
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Early last year Delhaize announced that it was to franchise out 128 supermarkets that it had hitherto run inhouse. 33 of these have already been franchised out and the socialist trade union says that this has had an adverse effect on conditions of employment for the staff that work there.
One employee that wishes to remain anonymous told VRT News that “The biggest issue is that Delhaize no longer regards us as employees”.
"If there are still things that Delhaize needs to look into it is like banging your head against a wall. For example, I believe that I wasn’t paid the correct amount for October, the last month that I still worked for Delhaize. We are now in mid-January and this still hasn’t been resolved. In addition to this, certain promises that were made regarding bonus payment are now being dismissed out of hand”.
Union "Examples in every store that has been franchised out"
BBTK’s Jan De Weghe told VRT News that the union is unable to say how many staff at the 33 stores have issues. Nevertheless, he said that the case of the person quoted in earlier in this article is is far from unique. "There are examples of this kind of thing in all the stores that have been taken over."
Mr De Weghe added that these are "harrowing situations" whereby wages are down 15% because certain bonuses are no longer paid and students working in the stores are paid 2 euro/hour less than they were previously.
"They are unable to guarantee that employees retain everything they had when they worked for Delhaize”.
Delhaize: "Disinformation”
Delhaize formally refutes the union’s allegations. The retailer’s spokesman Roel Dekelver told VRT News that the allegations amount to “disinformation”.
"Do things sometimes go wrong? Yes. There are always a few issues when there is a takeover of this size, but everything is being done in accordance with the law".
Mr Dekelver added that he has heard a very different story when he has visited the stores that have been franchised out. “The vast majority of staff are happy. The allegations made here do not correspond to reality. All the conditions and benefits that employees had at Delhaize have been taken over in full by the franchisees”.