Protests took place outside of several Delhaize shops in Belgium this weekend as workers continued to express their rage at the supermarket chain's decision earlier this year to franchise more than a hundred of its stores.
At 08:00 on Saturday, around 20 employees at a Delhaize store in Enghien, in the province of Hainaut, closed the shop and walked out in protest. The protest ended at around 11:00 after a bailiff arrived.
In Mons, around 40 people gathered outside a supermarket at around 09:00 to hand out leaflets to customers. "A new order was issued this morning, for Hainaut only, stipulating that we cannot prevent access to the site," said National Secretary of the CNE union Myriam Djegham, who participated in the protest.
"Once again, the bailiff has over-interpreted the ruling and deduced that we cannot be on Delhaize territory. This is overzealous. The police advised us to stand on the pavement opposite [the store]," she added.
In Brussels, protests took place outside shops in Schaerbeek, Jette, and Auderghem on Saturday.
In addition, roughly a hundred people gathered outside a store on Place Flagey (in Ixelles). The support group behind the demonstration called for a full boycott of Delhaize shops "until the social conflict is resolved in favour of the workers". However, the shop remained open throughout the protest and no customers were prevented from entering.
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"It’s important that the boycott can be sustained over time and not lose momentum. That is why we have created this support collective," said Thomas Engert of ACV-CSC union. He added that the protests carried out in front of shops in Schaerbeek and Uccle were very successful. "The Delhaize stores in Brussels have already lost many customers. And they won't be coming back."
"The nine shops are more or less affected. We are doing everything we can to guarantee access and keep them open," said Delhaize spokesperson Roel Dekelver, adding that the bailiffs sent to the stores were merely "taking note of the events".
On 7 March, the Delhaize announced that it wanted to franchise all of its 128 directly-operated shops in Belgium, a decision which has led to a series of increasingly militant worker protests.
