Supermarkets after press conference: surprising that Rutte mentions us | Inland

“We are surprised that we have been mentioned. It is also confusing, because we are in continuous and special talks with the cabinet ”, Jansen responds. He says that the supermarket sector received compliments from the cabinet last Friday for the measures implemented. This happened in a video meeting with the Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Jansen said. “And we recognized that, because we have been tightening the strings from August onwards.”

Rutte said at the press conference on Tuesday that in the retail trade “really still needs to be done” to enforce corona rules. He also thought it important that supermarkets should do more.

“But I honestly cannot think of what additional measures supermarkets should do,” Jansen responds. “We have extra people at the door, employees walk everywhere with vests that indicate the 1.5 meters distance and the maximum number of customers is checked with baskets and shopping trolleys.”

In the consultations between the retail trade and the cabinet about compliance with corona rules in stores, it was recently agreed that larger retail chains take the lead in enforcing corona rules. According to Jansen, this means that larger supermarkets in a shopping area check with ‘local butcher or boutique’ whether they can make it with the regulations. “I can’t think of what extra we can do in our stores. Beyond that, we have to stick around the corner more often with fellow shopkeepers. ”

According to the FNV trade union, there is something to be said about proper compliance with the corona rules in the retail trade. “We believe that supermarkets and large retail chains should take the comments of Mark Rutte very seriously,” says Linda Vermeulen, director of FNV Handel.

“We have seen for a long time that there are rules, but that they are not being complied with sufficiently. For example, there are too few security guards or too few shop employees are deployed or released to supervise the rules, ”Vermeulen continues. She also believes that employers should place more emphasis on the safety of store employees, with large chains in a pioneering role.

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