Lidl workers in France begin unlimited strike over Sunday opening plans
Multiple unions back the strike and say working conditions for staff are deteriorating
The retailer employs nearly 50,000 people in France
Harry Wedzinga / Shutterstock
Workers at supermarket Lidl will go on an ‘unlimited’ strike from Friday (February 7) for higher wages and in protest over plans for more stores to begin trading on Sundays.
The strike is being backed by five major unions (although not Unsa, the biggest union in the sector) which claim the changes are a further reduction of working conditions for employees.
The ‘unlimited’ nature of the strike does not mean all workers will walk out each day, but they have the option to join the strike for the entire period until an end to action is called.
It means that disruption is likely for shoppers, with fewer staff managing tills.
Currently, some Lidl supermarkets are open on Sundays, however close around lunchtime.
The German retailer has some 1,600 stores and nearly 50,000 employees in France.
Deteriorating conditions
Unions backing the workers say the compensation offered for working on Sundays is inadequate.
They are saying that workers who undertake Sunday shifts are paid considerably more than the amount currently being offered.
The unions say further that this is the latest in a line of reductions to working conditions.
In December the company’s employee representation body (comité social et économique, CSE) said “employees are the company's only adjustment variable [leading to mass layoffs], which systematically shifts the workload on to those who remain, further deteriorating their working conditions.”
It asked management “not to compensate for the fall in margins resulting from a price war by reducing the wage bill.”
Other unions such as the FGTA-FO criticised “the worrying deterioration in employees’ working conditions,” at the chain.
Read more: Strikes in France in February 2025 and how you may be impacted
