Picnic would rather leave the Netherlands than abide by labour agreement

Online grocery delivery company Picnic has threatened to leave the Netherlands if forced to comply with the supermarket collective labour agreement. 

Picnic threatens to leave the Netherlands

During a recent airing of radio programme Sven op 1, Picnic CEO Michiel Muller announced that the company would consider leaving the Netherlands if it were forced to abide by the supermarket collective labour agreement, reports NU.nl. Previously, the government granted Picnic an exemption from this labour agreement, allowing the company to fall under the e-commerce collective bargaining agreement. 

Earlier this year, the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal ruled that companies such as Picnic and Flink, which sell supermarket products online and deliver them to homes, are operating as virtual supermarkets and should comply with the supermarket labour agreement. The court ruled that the companies must retroactively pay benefits to employees who worked for the period of September 13, 2022 to July 1, 2023. 

The company has applied for another exemption with the Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Eddy van Hijum. "If we don't get an exemption, our costs will be 40 percent higher than the stores. Then we'll no longer be able to compete, and we'll have to shift our investments to other countries," Muller stated.

Picnic fights Dutch supermarket collective labour agreement

The supermarket collective bargaining agreement entitles employees at Dutch supermarkets to benefits, including extra pay, if they work on Sundays and public holidays. Muller believes it would create unfair competition if online food delivery services had to comply with this labour agreement as well, claiming that brick-and-mortar supermarkets employ more young people who earn youth wages and don’t have a pension, while Picnic employs more adults.

"The supermarkets are egging on the unions. At the same time, we can't join the unions at the table, but the collective bargaining agreement still applies to us," Muller told NOS. Up until now, the company has had its own e-commerce collective labour agreement with employee organisations. 

Trade unions disagree with the CEO’s statement. "They're always welcome at the supermarket table, but they only want to negotiate a separate collective bargaining agreement for e-commerce," said FNV, while emphasising that the goal of a collective labour agreement is to create a level playing field. "It's Picnic's choice to hire older staff. That doesn't absolve the company of its obligation to pay employees fairly."