The supermarket collective labour agreement is outdated and does not fit Picnic's rhythm. So argues the app-only Supermarket in response to FNV's ultimatum. The union is now going to court to enforce a collective agreement as yet.
According to FNV, the fast-growing supermarket earns millions by evading collective bargaining agreements. The union therefore issued an ultimatum last week: a supermarket collective bargaining agreement or going to court. Picnic chose the latter, according to a response from co-founder Michiel Muller today.
'CLA is like an old coat'
"We are not against a collective agreement, but it has to be a collective agreement that fits our rhythm," Muller told RTL Z. The entrepreneur describes the supermarket collective agreement as an "old coat". "Those agreements are 50 years old. Then a student who works on Sunday can get paid double and a stay-at-home mum who can only work during the week cannot."
Picnic pleads for new collective labour agreement
Picnic is not necessarily against a collective agreement. Muller says he is open to a collective agreement for e-commerce. "But for the FNV it's sign at the cross, or not. And when you get a week as an ultimatum, you have to talk very quickly. We hope that we can talk further with FNV, but we don't have a new plan out of the ground within a week. Still, we hope we can reach agreements with the entire e-commerce sector."
FNV faces case with confidence
FNV executive Marianne Jekkers wants a third party to rule on the matter. The union views the case with confidence. "Picnic is a supermarket in everything and also calls itself that. The people who work there are entitled to decent wages and other working conditions. The company is now a cowboy in the sector, competing with other supermarkets at the expense of its employees."
Image: Order pickers together with FNV symbolically handed over a cheque for 9.9 million euros to Picnic's management. This represents the amount the mass retailer allegedly pocketed last year by circumventing the supermarket collective labour agreement.
