V&D scraps wage reduction in return for 400 redundancies

V&DDepartment store V&D has agreed with unions not to reduce the wages of non-union staff, but 400 jobs will go.

The decision to cut non-union staff wages was ruled out in a court case brought by the FNV and CNV unions in February. V&D said at the time it would appeal the ruling but remain in negotiations with the unions.

Friday’s decision is the result of those negotiations.

The reorganisation will see 400 of the 10,000 jobs go. Which jobs are to be scrapped is not yet clear, according to broadcaster Nos. The 400 job losses are part of a package aimed at saving €10m on personnel costs.

Social plan

In March, the company and the unions reached agreement on a social plan for redundant workers.

That plan consists of an acceptable redundancy payment, a budget of €3,500 for each person involved for retraining and help in finding other work, and €500 for legal assistance.

V&D was saved from bankruptcy in February when it made an agreement with the owners of most of its 63 properties to temporarily reduce the rent. It is now in talks with its landlords on a long-term solution.

The company made a loss in both 2012 and 2013 and in February announced that it lost a further €49m in 2014.

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