Some 2,000 workers in the retail sector will take action on Monday at 10 a.m. in front of the FPS Employment, Labor and Social Dialogue in Brussels, the Flemish union ACV Puls announced on Friday. This action comes at the height of the launch of the sector’s biannual wage negotiations, while the sector is shaken by the project to franchise all the Delhaize stores.
“It is obvious that these will not be ordinary consultations”, underlines Kristel Van Damme, person in charge for the distribution with the ACV Puls. “We cannot sit around the table without having the Delhaize file in mind.” The union stresses, in a press release, the importance of upgrading pay and working conditions throughout the sector in Belgium. “Equal pay for equal work must become the norm. Whether working for a franchise or an integrated store, a cashier must earn the same.”
The ACV Puls also calls on the federations of the sector to approach the future of the sector “constructively”. “Two years ago, we agreed to organize a round table on the future of the sector before March 2022. We are already in April 2023 and the unions have still not received the slightest invitation from Comeos”, deplores Kristel Van Damme.