Delhaize management sent bailiffs to 19 closed stores on Saturday morning to get the strikers’ blocks lifted, chain spokeswoman Ine Tassignon said shortly after noon.
Sixty-one of the 128 sites still under own management remained closed on Saturday morning. The actions take place mainly in Wallonia and Brussels.
The management of the distribution chain therefore sent bailiffs to 19 stores, most of which have since reopened. There are still 46 stores closed, said Ine Tassignon. “We must not let ourselves be defeated,” he told HLN.
“We are concentrating on establishments where most employees want to work,” she added, specifying that these are mainly stores located in Flanders. “No significant incident” would have occurred during the interventions of the bailiffs.
On March 7, Delhaize management announced its intention to franchise 128 stores in Belgium. This represents some 9,000 jobs. A month after management’s announcement, actions and blockades continue, with workers remaining opposed to the franchise model and fearing job losses, wage cuts, shrinking social benefits and lack of union representation within the future structures envisaged.