The liberal trade union ACLVB reports that the number of naked dismissals of workers at Barry Callebaut in Wieze and Lokeren has been reduced from 62 to a maximum of 5. Additionally, the socialist trade union BBTK describes the signals as “hopeful” in Halle, where 178 of the 480 jobs were originally at risk.
Barry Callebaut announced at the end of February that it planned to cut over 500 jobs in Belgium, specifically at its branches in Wieze, Lokeren, and Halle. Due to changing market conditions, particularly high cocoa prices until the end of April, the impact of the job cuts now appears to be less significant.
Initially, 62 worker jobs were slated to be cut in the East Flemish branches, but it now seems that the number of naked redundancies will be reduced to a maximum of five, all in Wieze. Conversations for white-collar workers and executives, where 250 jobs are threatened, are still ongoing. The impact is expected to be greater in these roles due to the complexity of the exercise involving local, regional, and global functions.
Dialogue between the company and its social partners in Wieze is described as constructive, with plans to reduce inefficient structures while limiting the impact on affected employees. Discussions are also described as constructive in Halle, where blue-collar and white-collar job losses have potentially been significantly reduced. Further meetings are scheduled for the coming weeks to continue these discussions.