Lidl has confirmed that all its shops in Belgium will reopen on Tuesday following six days of closure across various branches due to strike actions.
A preliminary agreement has now been reached between trade unions and management at the supermarket chain, which stated that measures will be taken to reduce high work pressure in the short and long terms.
"There is now an agreement on giving additional support to the branches which means the strike will end and those shops that were shut will reopen on Tuesday afternoon," Isabelle Colbrandt, Lidl Belgium's spokesperson, told The Brussels Times.
She explained that the shops that did go on strike would only reopen from 2:00 PM as they will need time to restock shelves. "But those that did not go on strike opened their doors, as usual, this morning."
According to previous reports from Belga News Agency, staff at hundreds of Lidl stores stopped working due to discontent about the increased workload.
Alongside expanding the flexible staff that helps out with extra tasks and makes up for absences, Lidl will also be rolling out a specific action plan for extra support in the branches with a higher average sickness rate; there are also reports of initiatives for the faster intake of new colleagues, VRT News reported.
"We pushed through the workers' signal as much as possible that the workload had to be reduced. We have ensured that there are enough helping hands in the shops, that more colleagues are added and that contracts are revalued," Jan De Weghe of trade union BBTK, said.
