Unions want to see Delhaize’s financial accounts

As the social conflict between supermarket chain Delhaize and its workers drags on, unions are criticising the company’s refusal to provide full information about the financial health of the business.

The unions - Setca, CNE, CGSLB, FGTB Horval, CSC Alimentations et services and ACV Puls - are demanding to see the company’s financial accounts, saying that they have only been given partial figures so far.

Delhaize’s “refusal to communicate” is a factor in the current dispute, they said, and several unions announced that staff representatives walked out of the Delhaize works council earlier this week.

The company's management is “hiding behind the downward revaluation of the value of its shops”, according to the unions.

“However, this reduction in estimated value was already recorded (€108 million) by the group in June,” they said in a statement.

The unions believe that Delhaize does not want to put a figure on the real value of their shops “so that it can sell them off more easily… It may also be trying to hide the group's very good results and possible dividends despite the crisis”.

Delhaize announced that it plans to switch all of its 128 shops in Belgium to a privately-owned franchise model, which unions say will result in worse working conditions and wages.

Workers are calling for the full accounts to be presented “as soon as possible”, before the end of the year.