The first reconciliation meeting between the trade unions and Delhaize management started at the FPS Employment on Tuesday morning, with unions hoping to reset social dialogue after 42 days of unions and management locking horns.
Delhaize's management announced six weeks ago that it would franchise its 128 self-managed shops, resulting in various stores closing doors for days to weeks on end and social tensions, culminating in one union filing a criminal complaint.
After the third and final failed meeting between management and unions, a mediator was appointed by Federal Labour Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne to help the parties resolve the conflict. The first reconciliation with the appointed social mediator started at 08:00 on Tuesday at the offices of FPS Employment in Brussels.
On Monday, unions organised a 2,500-person gathering at the same location as part of a demonstration against "social dumping" – the term for replacing an existing workforce with cheaper labour from elsewhere. The action was a deliberate move against the situation at the Belgian supermarket chain.
Back to the negotiating table
The length of the discussions will reflect their success. They are expected to last until 14:00 but in the past unions have walked out of talks following "deep disagreement" over proposals. This has resulted in unions and management not meeting for three weeks.
Despite heavy disapproval of the plans and various strikes, management hasn't budged on their proposed plans.
However, several union representatives have stressed their eagerness to talk with management again. The mediator's task today will only be to restart the conversation, any signing of an agreement will take place at a later date depending on today's outcome.
Demonstrators in Brussels on Monday 17 April. Credit: Belga/ James Arthur Gekiere
"It is especially important that both sides can have a mature discussion, to get 'on speaking terms' again," Kristel Van Damme, retail manager at ACV Puls, told Belga News Agency. "If we see that the management is earnest and wants to take steps forward, then we can possibly suspend our strikes."
Unions hope this will spur the management to alter plans to allow long-serving Delhaize head office staff, but also part of the shop staff, to choose between a severance scheme or a move to the independent supermarket.
But hopes of a departure plan have already been dashed by Roel Dekelver, director of communications at Delhaize, who told De Standaard that there is no such plan B. "The only plan is that of the corporatisation of our shops. That is the only way to re-engage with growth."
But Dekelver stressed the management's openness for dialogue and would "deeply regret it if Tuesday's consultation fails."
