Blockade at Delhaize Zellik distribution center lifted after police arrival | Interior

It was a spontaneous action by angry staff, intended to prevent trucks from leaving the depot. In recent weeks, the distribution center in Zellik has been blocked several times, but unlike the previous times, this is now a spontaneous action.

Delhaize confirms the action at the distribution center. According to spokeswoman Ine Tassignon, trucks were occasionally allowed through and everything was done to get the center fully open again as soon as possible and to limit the nuisance for the shops. She considers it unlikely that there will be many empty shelves on Saturday.

A bailiff was also sent to the scene, but did not intervene to lift the blockades. It was the arrival of the police, with four combis, and a fire truck that finally brought the action to a halt. The workers present then withdrew and decided to leave the site “to think about subsequent actions”, confirms the French-speaking trade union CNE to Belga.

Since last Friday, Delhaize regularly sends bailiffs to blocked stores with many people willing to work. Tassigon emphasizes that the use of a bailiff is “the last resort” to ensure access for customers and the “right to work” of staff. “We try to negotiate ourselves first.”

At the beginning of March, Delhaize announced that it wants to privatize all its stores. Since then, a social conflict has raged at the 128 branches that the department store chain itself operates.

On Friday, 21 of the 128 Delhaizes under own management were still closed due to union actions. In Flanders, as in recent days, all shops are open. In Brussels, 14 supermarkets are closed on Friday, in Wallonia 7.
An important reconciliation meeting will take place at the company on Tuesday. The mediator then brings unions and management together.

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