Polish workers suspend strike at distribution centres

A month-long strike by Polish workers at supermarket distribution centres has been suspended, the FNV trade union has confirmed.

More than 300 temporary workers had walked out of Albert Heijn supermarket distribution centres in protest at a new collective labour agreement they say worsens conditions. The FNV is now pausing the action for two to three months to take stock.

The union said its goal remains to force talks with staffing agency associations ABU and NBBU, which signed a contested pay agreement due to take effect on 1 January 2025. The FNV was not involved in that deal and argues it means agency staff will be treated more unfairly.

Talks with the ABU are scheduled for September. In the meantime, the FNV plans to visit other companies employing temporary workers to raise awareness of the problem, including DHL, PostNL and logistics firm GXO.

One immediate result of the strike came from employment agency Otto Workforce, which announced on 16 July that sick leave would be fully paid for up to 26 weeks with no unpaid waiting day. Strikers hailed this as a concrete win.

The decision to suspend the strike followed legal concerns around targeting Albert Heijn over an agreement that affects all agency workers. The FNV also said it faced limited support beyond Polish workers and that there are challenges in scaling up action during the summer holiday period.

Some strikers said they were caught off guard by the sudden halt. Paulina Nietupska, an FNV representative in Tilburg, said they would now work to strengthen networks in other sectors and focus on involving workers with other nationalities, including Bulgarians and Romanians.

Meanwhile, many strikers have reportedly not been given shifts since ending their action, because the staffing agencies have been filling vacancies with new hires. The FNV said it will offer legal help to those now out of work where possible.