The number of naked dismissals of workers at Barry Callebaut in Wieze and Lokeren has been reduced from 62 to a maximum of 5, reports the liberal trade union ACLVB. The signals are also “hopeful” in Halle, where 178 of the 480 jobs were originally at risk, says the socialist trade union BBTK.
Chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut announced at the end of February that it wanted to cut more than 500 jobs in Belgium, namely at its branches in Wieze, Lokeren and Halle. Due to changing market conditions, mainly high cocoa prices until the end of April, the impact now appears to be less significant.
62 worker jobs would be cut in the East Flemish branches, the chocolate factory in Wieze and the warehouse in Lokeren. It now appears that this will result in a maximum of five naked layoffs, all in Wieze, ACLVB secretary Kurt Marysse said on Tuesday after the final discussions for workers in Wieze and Lokeren in the context of the information and consultation phase of the Renault Act.
The company said in a response on Wednesday that it can fully implement its plans in Wieze. “We are happy that we are conducting a constructive dialogue with our social partners in Wieze,” says Barry Callebaut. “As part of the current agreement, we can fully implement our plans to reduce inefficient structures and duplication of effort, while limiting the impact on affected employees in a socially acceptable way. Although the number of affected jobs for Wieze remains unchanged, in this specific case we have found ways to keep the layoffs to a minimum.”
Discussions are still ongoing for white-collar workers and executives, where 250 jobs are threatened, but the impact will be greater, ACLVB says in the press release. “Because it involves local, regional and global functions, the exercise here is much more complex,” Marysse explains. “The results for workers show that dialogue and cooperation are paying off.” On Thursday, May 16, unions and management will meet again.
Discussions are also proceeding “constructively” in Halle, where 159 blue-collar and 16 white-collar positions were originally to be cut, says BBTK secretary Hans Christiaens. “The information and consultation phase is hopeful and job losses are potentially significantly reduced. However, as long as there is no full agreement, we have agreed with the management not to provide figures.”
The next two works councils are scheduled for May 29 and June 6.
