When Belgian supermarket Delhaize announced in March plans to turn the 128 stores it managed directly into franchises, with staff and finances passed onto the buyer, few would have expected such a backlash as that which has locked employees and company execs in legal and logistical deadlock for months since.
Whilst the decision was bound to be unpopular with staff, the union response soon geared up to frame the matter as a concern for all the retail sector. If Delhaize can get away with it, who will be next? was the cry from labour organisations. The gulf between workers and management grew as bailiffs were called in to break up picketing staff and reopen branches.
At moments the battle looked more the stuff of hardline anti-mining protests than shelf-stackers and cashiers joining forces. The stamina was impressive as well: months later and the matter was neither settled nor dropped from the public eye. Staff on strike forfeited salaries to hold their line and ministers made a series of fruitless attempts to broker a peace.
For their part, management proved intransigent, no doubt undeterred as the Ahold Delhaize group saw its overall profits swell thanks to unabated performances in the US and other European operations. In the grand scheme of its multinational retail portfolio, the Belgian problem wasn't even a flesh wound.
But after months without compromise, management last week took a different tack with the proposal of bonuses for workers who consent to the franchise plans. One union has already rejected the offer whilst others confer with members. But with both sides adamant not to give an inch of ground, is this the best chance to end the stand-off? Let @Orlando_tbt know.
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