2023-09-28 17:31:00
After the announcement of the Louis Delhaize group to separate from its Match and Smatch stores, the staff of the Cora hypermarkets, also owned by Louis Delhaize, had great fears. The group’s managers indicated to the unions on Thursday, during a national consultation committee, that they intended to put the seven large stores in Wallonia and Brussels back on track, provided that the staff made some effort, according to the CNE. “We especially have the impression that management wants to dress the bride,” comments Elisabeth Lovecchio, permanent CNE.
The financial situation of Cora in Belgium is not rosy, but management would be ready to bail them out if the staff agrees to reverse certain achievements. “It asks in particular to give up paid breaks, to return to bonuses and days of leave at the level of the sector while achievements had been made in the past on these matters”, points out Ms. Lovecchio. “They will seek to reduce the payroll, by encouraging voluntary departures. Above all, it seems that they want to make the stores more beautiful than they are so that they can get rid of them later,” she adds.
Staff meetings are planned in the coming days in hypermarkets to present management’s demands to workers. Just over 2,000 people work in the seven hypermarkets.
A week ago, the Colruyt group and the Match and Profi subsidiaries of the Louis Delhaize group announced an agreement providing for the former to take over 57 Match and Smatch stores in Belgium, or around two thirds of the points of sale. However, no candidate buyer has shown interest in taking over the 27 remaining stores and logistics services. Nearly 700 people might lose their jobs as a result of this decision.
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