Delhaize stores are reported to remain closed until next Tuesday in Belgium. Employees will continue strike actions in response to the company's decision to franchise 128 company-owned shops.
Announced on Tuesday, the company explained that its decision was due to dwindling profits and market share. In an internal memo seen by The Brussels Times, management told employees that they would keep their jobs, wages and working conditions.
However, the CNE trade union told Belga News Agency that workers have already come "under pressure" from management since their decision was announced. Union representatives have also accused the company of threatening employees with redundancy.
Employees will continue strikes until next Tuesday's works council; the ACV Puls union has issued a raft of demands, including a harmonised status recognition for all employees, whether they work at company-owned stores or the new franchises.
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Director of ACV Puls union Kristel Van Damme says that working conditions and wages are vastly inferior in franchise stores: "If you look at pay, franchise workers receive €300 pre-tax less per month" than employees in directly-managed stores.
The union also called for a so-called "supermarket freeze" to put an end to Belgium's large number of stores in such a small area. They explained that there is one supermarket per 3,000 inhabitants, with the number set to increase.
"As this will almost certainly force employers into social dumping," Van Damme argued, "we should limit the number of supermarkets per square kilometre."
