An Albert Heijn supermarket in Leiden has come under fire for photoshopping a photograph of the outside of the store – to remove reference to calls for a pay rise.

The store placed the photograph of several workers standing next to large chalk letters stating ‘shelf stackers, we could not do it without you’, as a way of generating public support. But chalked words ‘minimum wage €14’ had been photo-shopped away.

Doe eens normaal @albertheijn
Zogenaamd trots en dankbaar op je personeel, maar wel de tekst “minimumloon 14 euro” weg fotoshoppen? Zie foto.
Gunnen jullie je personeel die in de frontlinie staan vd strijd tegen de coronacrisis niet eens n fatsoenlijk inkomen v 14 euro per uur? pic.twitter.com/wi7Y5dZ1RG

— Cihan Ugural (@CihanUgural) April 2, 2020

The branch has now removed the photo from social media. ‘The support was heartening, but removing part of the text was unwise, the shop realizes that now,’ a spokesman for Albert Heijn.

The pay demand is part of a campaign by the FNV trade union federation to win a structural increase in the minimum wage.

National statistics agency CBS said last month that supermarket sales in the second week of March were up 35% on the same period in 2019.

The current minimum wage in the Netherlands is €10.60 an hour for people aged 21 and older – or €76.32 a day. A 16-year-old earns €3.66 an hour or €26.33 per day.