The CNE trade union representing Delhaize staff has rejected proposals tabled by the company's management to try an end the labour dispute, the union announced on Wednesday, confirming a report by L’Echo.
Respecting the view of the "majority" from the assemblies held in the shops to present the employer’s proposal, the CNE will not sign the memorandum of understanding. "Management has not taken account of workers’ demands but has put on the table what best suits them," says the Christian union.
The management’s proposals are "not respectful of the workers and their demands, which are about leaving their job with dignity if they do not adhere to the Delhaize plan," the CNE points out. "It’s not up to the workers to resign, it’s not them but management that is changing the conditions under which their employment contract is exercised."
The proposal, submitted to the unions in mid-September, does not change anything about management’s intention to franchise the supermarkets.
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It does, Delhaize management sustains, offer something for the roughly 9,000 staff affected by the plans to franchise 128 supermarkets. Under the plan, they would receive a bonus of €1,500, plus €125 for each year worked. With an average seniority of 18 years, this represents an average of €3,750. Added to this is a one-off payment of €145 for the abolition of a sectoral bonus.
With a bonus of €10,000, Delhaize also wants to encourage its employees who are legally able to do so to take early retirement, which could benefit some 800 workers.
Three out of four trade unions are therefore now opposed to Delhaize management’s proposals. Only the Flemish Christian union ACV Puls has indicated that it wants to continue negotiations on the proposal.
