The Delhaize group announced this morning, on the occasion of an extraordinary works council, that it intends to convert all of its 128 supermarkets which are currently under its own management into independent stores. Ultimately, these supermarkets will therefore be governed by the same rules as the 636 independent stores affiliated with Delhaize under different brands (AD Delhaize, Proxy Delhaize and Shop & Go).
“The objective of this change is to bring together all Delhaize stores under one model in order to stimulate the growth of these 128 supermarkets“, explains the management of the company, adding that it is regarding “the only option to continue investing in a sustainable future for Delhaize.”
To back up this approach, the company’s management explains that over the past few years, affiliated independent stores “have seen their market share grow steadily“while,” she said, “despite the many initiatives and investments made in self-managed supermarkets, they have seen their profitability and market share decline“.
Impact on employment
In this same press release, the management of the company specifies that this transformation will not have “no impact on employment for the employees of these supermarkets because all the staff will be transferred to the new independent operators (…) They also keep their salary and working conditions.”
On the other hand, further specifies the management, “the gradual transition from self-managed supermarkets to independent stores will lead to a gradual reduction in the number of functions within the head office“.
Cascading work stoppages
The management’s announcement shocked the staff of the supermarkets affected by this change in status. This morning, a whole series of stores closed their doors. Union slogan: “We’re closing!”.
At 10 a.m., there were 84 stores closed out of the 128 that will change status.
The trade unions are furious: “It’s a real scandalprotests Myriam Delmée, president of Setca, because that implies for the personnel degradation of the working conditions of approximately 25%. It implies that there will be no more negotiations [sociales] in the future in these stores, since there is no collective bargaining possible in this model of store [gérés par des franchisés]. The management’s behavior today was a real scandal since they didn’t even try to establish any dialogue with us today, they just gave information before leaving the room. It is a real contempt for the 9000 workers who are affected by this announcement“.