Strike at Nike’s European distribution center in protest against the restructuring plan

At the Nike logistics centre in Laakdal, Belgium, a 24-hour strike has been ongoing since Monday evening. The unions accuse management of failing to allocate sufficient funds for a social plan, as a total of 736 jobs are now at risk.

In need of budget

Nike previously announced 411 layoffs and recently added another 325 jobs at risk. According to the trade unions, this accumulation is causing significant unrest among employees. According to the BBTK union, the employer is “clearly not allocating sufficient funds” for the social plan, VRT News quotes union respresentative Marieke Van Gils as saying.

The unions are primarily seeking to limit forced layoffs. They are calling for measures to retain employees longer or to develop voluntary departure schemes. In this way, they hope to prevent job losses for other employees.

On Monday evening, strikers gathered at the entrance gates of the Laakdal and Ham facilities, where all fulfilment activities for Europe and the EMEA region take place. According to the unions, the action has broad support from the staff. A small group of employees did continue working, however. The night shift is set to resume work on Tuesday evening for the time being, but the unions do not rule out further actions in the coming days.