The Belgian Minister for Employment Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS) announced his intention to reform the country’s employment law on Thursday, in light of the ongoing labour dispute between Delhaize and its workers.
The Socialist Party's Dermagne announced his planned changes in parliament as the retailer’s management and unions are still at loggerheads over Delhaize’s plans to franchise the rest of its Belgian stores, bringing them under independent management with thousands of workers losing benefits under weaker labour conditions.
Dermagne wants to strengthen the so-called Renault law, with proposals that appear to fall in line with the unions’ key demands.
The legal framework has been in place since 1996 and forces companies to warn their employees of any collective redundancies 60 days in advance. The minister now wants to increase the time to 120 days.
Other planned changes include ensuring that companies reintegrate employees affected by mass dismissals into the labour market, while also sanctioning them if they do not offer information to its staff about future franchising plans.
Dermagne also wants to make it illegal for them to employ student workers to cover for striking staff members.
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However, many have expressed their doubts about the likelihood of the proposals being passed, especially among the conservative parties in government.
Opposition MP Sophie Rohonyi who represents the centrist party DéFI even questioned whether the minister has the support of all parties in the majority-led government.
Furthermore, the minister now has to contend with criticism from various employer groups over his plans. Unizo’s president Danny Van Assche stated that these proposals were “totally unfeasible” for any small to medium-sized companies.
Meanwhile, Pieter Timmermans of the Federation of Belgian Entreprises accused Dermagne of giving into the unions’ wishes and stated that “I see no measures against the abuse of procedures (from employees), against unnecessary time-wasting in a dismissal or to encourage entrepreneurship.”
