Union takes aim at Intermarché Belgium

Ten layoffs over a period of barely two months at an Intermarché location in Liège have prompted the CNE union to sound the alarm. The business owner in question denies the allegations.

Unlawful dismissals

According to the CNE union, ten employees were laid off in just sixty days at the Intermarché on Avenue Blonden in Liège, a former branch of the Mestdagh Group. These were unlawful layoffs because the employer failed to comply with the Renault Law on collective layoffs, the union stated in a press release. Furthermore, employees with long tenure were reportedly targeted.

The operator in question, who also runs two other Intermarché stores in the region, denies the allegations to RTBF and other French-language media. He claims that CNE cannot substantiate its claims and that he is at the disposal of the relevant inspection authorities. Intermarché’s Belgian management also rejects all allegations. The chain emphasizes that its independent franchisees are completely autonomous in managing their businesses.

That is precisely the unions’ criticism: by treating each store as a separate business, the owner can circumvent the rules of Joint Committee 202, even though he employs more than 20 people across his three stores. Intermarché’s acquisition of some 80 former Carrefour Market supermarkets from the Mestdagh Group—which took place three years ago—meant that the integrated branches had to transition to independent status, a change that was not exactly welcomed by the unions.