“Albert Heijn Strike Continues: Empty Shelves in Stores as Employees Demand Better Wages and Working Conditions”

Employees of Albert Heijn distribution centers will continue their strike next week, says trade union FNV. More and more employees would also participate in the work interruptions, including part-timers and temporary workers. This means that there will also be empty shelves in some Albert Heijn stores in the coming days.

At the moment, an agreement seems far away; there is no negotiation on a new collective labor agreement. Anushka Aspeslagh of the supermarket chain says that “the energy is focused on resuming talks”.

Trade union director Levin Zühlke-van Hulzen of FNV emphasizes that the union will only return to the table if there is a minimum wage increase of 10 percent and working conditions do not deteriorate. “We don’t ask for mountains of gold with that, we don’t want people to lose out.” In addition to higher wages and good working conditions, the union also wants more flex workers to be employed.

The strike at the distribution centers started last weekend. Meanwhile, especially in Albert Heijn supermarkets in the northeast and southwest of the Netherlands, there are empty shelves. This is because, in Pijnacker and Zwolle in particular, relatively many people have laid down their jobs. Aspeslagh sees that it is “unpleasant” in a large number of stores when it comes to supplies. The impact differs per branch.

Zühlke-van Hulzen says he receives more and more photos of empty shelves. He thinks it will only get more. “There is often still some stock, but the longer it takes, the more it will be visible. Especially if the strike continues to expand.”

Albert Heijn finds it difficult to predict how big the impact will be if the actions continue. “Work is being done, but less is being delivered than we would like.” The amount of angry reactions from customers is not too bad, says the spokesperson. “Customers know what’s going on. We hope they understand that.”