Employees of Albert Heijn’s six distribution centers will stop working on Monday. The strike began on Sunday evening among part-time workers in the Geldermalsen, Pijnacker and Zaandam distribution centers. Full-time employees in all distribution centers go on strike from 07:00, according to unions CNV and FNV. The strike could lead to empty shelves in supermarkets.
Distribution center staff want more salaries and had given an ultimatum until 5pm on Sunday. The supermarket says it has offered an 8% pay rise. “6 percent immediately and 2 percent from January 2024. With this offer, the structural wage increase for distribution center employees is more than 8 percent after one year. This is higher than the average of the new collective agreements that now they are stipulated for one year,” says a spokesman for Albert Heijn.
Unions believe supply is too low given last year’s high inflation. “Last year’s inflation was 10.6%,” said Soraya Faez, director of CNV Vakmensen. “That’s why we are now asking for a salary increase of at least two digits before the decimal point.”
The strike in the distribution centers in Geldermalsen, Pijnacker, Tilburg and Zwolle will last until Wednesday. In Zaandam, workers strike until 3.30pm on Tuesday, reports FNV.
Source: BNR
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