Unions say promises of job creation after Cora closure not fulfilled

Employees at bankrupt hypermarket chain Cora are facing increasingly precarious working conditions as the stores are gradually converted into other types of stores, such as Delhaize or Aldi, trade unions have warned.

Core announced last year that it would cease operations and convert former locations into divided retail spaces for multiple stores, with about 1,500 jobs affected.

But while the owner of the sites has promised that staff will find jobs in one of the newly converted stores, unions have condemned the marginal re-employment rate of former Cora employees and the deterioration of employment conditions.

Mitiska REIM, the owner of the premises, mentioned creating 1,400 jobs in the long term across all the new retail parks, but the re-employment rate for former Cora employees remains very low, the unions claim.

Of the 1,500 employees made redundant by Cora, only around 50 have found jobs at these converted sites so far, according to Setca union president Myriam Delmée.

Employees are joining retraining programmes, but are not optimistic about their futures.

“We know that many people are already struggling to find work, and they’re going to arrive [at the new stores] and wonder whether we’ll be lucky enough to find something,” said Sabrina, a former Cora employee who worked at the La Louvière for 30 years.

Elisabeth Lovecchio of the CNE union noted that many of the planned stores are not new enterprises but rather are existing stores simply moving from neighbouring areas, thus limiting the net creation of jobs.

“We are nowhere near the scale announced,” Lovecchio said.

Workers are also concerned about the quality of employment being offered. The transition from Cora's wholly-owned hypermarket model to franchising has led to a change in collecting bargaining arrangements which, according to Setca, could lead to lower wages, longer working hours and the requirement to work more flexible hours, such as evenings and weekends.

When Cora’s closure was announced in April last year, employees were assured they would be given priority in the new shops that would be opening.

Former employee Sophie Van Cauenberghe works in the retraining unit and echoed Lovecchio’s warning that many of the stores being opened in former Cora locations are established stores switching locations and bringing the former location’s staff with them.

“These are shops that are changing locations, so they come with their own staff,” Van Cauenberghe said.

In the retraining unit in La Louvière, only 29 of the 180 people who were made redundant have found new jobs to date.

This fragmentation into small franchised structures also leads to a lack of trade union representation, which reduces the capacity for collective defence and changes the framework for social dialogue.

Fearing a massive reliance on students and flexi-jobs at the expense of permanent contracts, the CNE union denounced a "precarisation of the retail trade" where "the balance of power becomes individual", depriving employees of the social gains negotiated in larger structures.

Many of the former Cora sites are being converted into locations for Delhaize, the grocery chain that was heavily criticised for switching to a franchise model last year in a move that unions said would lead to poorer working conditions and undermines the social safety net.

Former Cora stores in Anderlecht (pictured) and Messancy (Luxembourg province) have already been converted to Delhaize supermarkets.

Delhaize is also taking over Cora sites in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, which will open on 27 January, La Louvière (Hainaut province) on 28 January, Liège Ardentes/Rocourt on 29 January, Châtelineau (Hainaut) on 19 February and Hornu (Hainaut) on 26 February.

The new stores will be run by affiliates and will offer the brand’s usual services, including online order collection, in each of the seven stores.

According to Delhaize, these openings are expected to create a total of around 300 jobs.

The sites are intended to house several smaller commercial units. In addition to Delhaize, several retailers have already confirmed their arrival in these centres, including DreamLand, which will be present at all seven sites, as well as the Kiabi clothing chain at five of them and the furniture retailer JYSK.

Aldi has also announced the opening of three stores in the Cora centres in Anderlecht, Châtelineau and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert in the summer of 2026.

It is estimated that the transition from a 10,000m² hypermarket to a 2,000m² supermarket is accompanied by an at least 50% reduction in the product range, while significantly cutting labour costs.

Delhaize said the operation has enabled it to increase its geographical coverage and market share, while building a "complementary portfolio" of stores of various sizes.