The Dutch retailer Jumbo has notified 3,000 logistics staff that they will receive an initial pay rise of 1.5%, from 1 April.
The company has initiated the pay rise claiming that unions representing workers have so far ignored invitations to negotiate a new collective agreement regarding working conditions and wages for the logistics sector, pushing for actions instead.
Depending on the outcome of the negotiations with the unions, the company has promised that any additional wage increases will be be implemented and backdated to 1 April.
“We have always been committed to constructive discussions with the unions on a new [collective agreement] for Jumbo Logistics. It’s very disappointing that the unions have chosen to break off the talks prematurely, and are ignoring our March 2016 agreement on a sustainable development of wages,” said Jumbo CEO Frits van Eerd.
Jumbo claims that it is already paying higher wages than its competitors, and is reducing the gap between wages in the sector as proactively as maintaining the company’s competitive edge will allow.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Martha Sparrius. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine