The management of the Delhaize supermarket chain is pressing ahead with the planned franchising of its 128 own shops: the first privatised supermarket will open its doors on 10 October.
"It is important for us to create clarity for the employees of the affected shops as the opening of the first franchised supermarket is imminent," Delhaize spokesperson Roel Dekelver told VRT. "We have made a substantial effort, although it was not mandatory."
The supermarket chain promised that employees would keep their pay and working conditions, and there is a guarantee that no shops will close before at least the end of 2028. A "transition premium" of €1,645 gross, supplemented by €125 gross for each full year of seniority, and a premium of €10,000 gross for those who can and want to retire early.
"We believe that this is the only possible plan to guarantee the future of Delhaize, to keep all shops open and to guarantee that every employee can make the transition to a corporatised shop," Dekelver said.
Rejected proposals
Importantly, this proposal was rejected by three of the four unions at Delhaize earlier this month. Only the Christian employees' union ACV Puls said it wanted to negotiate further.
"We have proposed several measures during the process," he said. "We transmitted the final proposal on 15 September. Unfortunately, that was not approved by the unions, but we see it as the final guidance measures that we will apply at the first shop's opening on 10 October."
Since then, Delhaize has found independent acquirers for 32 of its 128 supermarkets. In total, the entire franchising operation concerns some 9,000 employees. "We will systematically announce buyers for the other shops. We have obviously set a schedule to transfer a new shop to an independent operator every few days."
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The unions, however, are unhappy with the decision from Delhaize's management, with Myriam Delmée of the French-speaking socialist trade union SETCA calling it "a declaration of war."
"This decision was predictable, but the management does not understand that this will cause chaos. It has lost much more by refusing to negotiate than by agreeing to talks," she added.
