Belgium’s Federal Government will do everything possible to give maximum support to Carrefour workers and their families, Prime Minister Charles Michel and Labour Minister Kris Peeters said on Thursday in a first reaction to the restructuring plan announced by the French group.
Michel and Peeters “are in contact with the management of Carrefour” and will soon meet the trade unions, a spokesman of the Prime Minister said. Cuts planned by the hypermarket chain are expected to lead to 1,233 layoffs in Belgium. An extraordinary board meeting was being held on Thursday at company headquarters in Evere.
The cuts affect 1,053 persons in hypermarkets and 180 at headquarters.
The Belle Île hypermarkets in Liège-Angleur and the hypermarket in Genk (Limburg) are up for closure.
Three others – in Westerlo, Brugge Saint-Croix and Haine-Saint-Pierre are to become markets and the one in Turnhout will have its surface area reduced. The measures announced do not affect the chain’s 443 supermarkets and 296 Express stores.
