The impact of the general strike on big stores and retail is mixed.
Unions blockade stores on Brussels’s Nieuwstraat
Representatives of several trades unions blockaded the entrance to several stores and retail outlets on Nieuwstraat in the commercial heart of Brussels today. The Nieuwstraat is Belgium’s biggest shopping street.
The protest action targeting measures being adopted by the De Wever I government started at 9 am. Stores including Zara, Fnac and Action were hit.
According to trades unionist Deniz Agbaba the federal government’s measures will ‘create a true social bloodbath’.
‘We are here to defend the entire retail sector, where the impact will be severe. The government wants to treat working on Sundays like working on a normal working day. They also want the rate for night work to apply only from midnight, which in turn will hurt distribution workers.’
Latest situation at supermarket chains
Colruyt: no disruption in Flanders or Brussels, in Wallonia 2 distribution centres in the Ath region are blockaded.
Delhaize: no distruption to stores. Blockade at the distribution centre in Zellik allowing limited access. Lorries only allowed in and out very slowly.
Carrefour: number of stores closed. Spokesman stressed that ‘95 per cent of stores are open’.
Lidl: at least four shops are closed in Limburg, according to the Christian union.
Aldi: some stores closed, as is a distribution centre in Namur. A spokesperson stressed that ‘the vast majority of shops are open as usual’.