BEERG Newsletter - Strikes: France and Belgium

The dispute in the Belgium supermarket chain Delhaize continues to rumble on. Around two months ago, the management of the chain, owned by the Dutch Ahold group, announced that it planned to franchise the 128 stores it ran directly, joining the 600 that are already franchised and run independently. 

The move would see around 9,000 employees pass from direct employment with Delhaize to employment with the independent franchises. The unions strongly objected to the plan, branding it “social dumping”. It would now seem that they realise that they will not stop the move to franchising going ahead and are calling for a “Plan Renault” a mass collective redundancy procedure. Management is not prepared to go down that road, according to Belgium press reports.

At the same time the unions are complaining at what they see as the judicial undermining of the right to strike, after management in Delhaize obtained courts orders to stop the blockade of the company’s key distribution deport near Brussels. A recent demonstration called by the union saw some 20,000 protesters take to the streets in Brussels in support of the Delhaize workers and demanding an end to the courts interfering with the right to strike. 

In France, a two-month-old strike in the children’s clothing company, Vertbaudet is a  good example of the complexity of French labour relations. Earlier this year, unions representing a majority of employees accepted an offer from management of a one-off bonus of €650 and an increase in meal allowances of €115. 

Weeks later, the CGT, rejected the offer and demanded an increase of €150 a month, after tax. It called a strike, which has been supported by about 20% of the workforce, with the other 80% continuing to work. Management says the pay increase demanded by the CGT would put it out of business. 

Given that most of those both on strike and at work are women, the strike has shot to prominence as the CGT nationally and left-wing parties have framed it as a “feminist” struggle. Management have offered to bring forward 2024 pay negotiations. For now, the situation seems stalemated.

Also in Belgium, according to Claeys & Engels, on 26 May 2023, a Royal Decree establishing the margin for pay increases for 2023 and 2024 was published in the Belgian State Gazette. This refers to increases over and above the increases indexed to the cost of living. The maximum margin for such increases for the period 2023-2024 is fixed at 0%. In the absence of an agreement between the social partners, this pay margin had to be fixed by Royal Decree. It is likely that some profitable companies may give employees once-off payment but these are likely to be around €500.