Spain: Lidl supermarket workers strike over lack of security measures amid COVID crisis

W/S Lidl workers protesting in front of the Lidl supermarket on Via Carpetana street, Madrid

C/U Flag of the Workers' Commissions (CCOO)

M/S Protester with flag and banner reading (Spanish): "Security is not for sale"

M/S Protesters with flags

M/S Protesters with flags

C/U Flag with Lidl sign

SOT, Maribel Canadas, General secretary of the Lidl section of Workers' Commissions (CCOO) (Spanish): "The main reasons [for the strike] are the payment of some overtime hours, that the company promised and has not been paid, and the work overload that all employees have suffered since the COVID started… the overload is spectacular, jobs have not been replaced to deal with this overload, preventive measures have not been up to the expectations and these happened late and bad.”

M/S Protester with banner with the message (Spanish): "They make profit avoiding social distance" *CUTAWAY*

SOT, Maribel Canadas, General secretary of the Lidl section of Workers' Commissions (CCOO) (Spanish): “Security, for example in Madrid, we had 20 percent of employees in sick leave because they did not implement any safety measure on time and those that were implemented was because we denounced them to the labour and health inspection, for which the company has been operating below its possibilities, because they have many possibilities."

M/S Protester with banner with the message (Spanish): “Masks come from our effort" *CUTAWAY*

SOT, Maribel Canadas, General secretary of the Lidl section of Workers' Commissions (CCOO) (Spanish):“Work conciliation has been almost impossible, because most of the employees have had to work many more hours than they should, and the company was supposed to pay an additional 50 percent fee for these hours, and they didn't. "

C/U Banner with the message (Spanish): "They make profit avoiding social distance" *CUTAWAY*

SOT, Maribel Canadas, General secretary of the Lidl section of Workers' Commissions (CCOO) (Spanish): “Right now in the warehouses 80 percent of the employees are on strike, and regarding the stores, it is different in each area of ​​Spain, but I think around 200 to 600 will close."

M/S Protest * CUTAWAY *

SOT, Maribel Canadas, General secretary of the Lidl section of Workers' Commissions (CCOO) (Spanish): "We expect that they will sit down to negotiate and that they will fulfil what they said earlier, because they have not fulfilled it, and we hope they respect it in the next negotiations, because they don't even respect what they signed."

W/S Customers queuing to enter the supermarket

W/S Lidl worker protesting at the supermarket entrance

C/U Lidl sign
SCRIPT
Dozens of Lidl supermarkets’ workers gathered in front of Via Carpetana street in Madrid on Thursday, as part of a strike over the lack of security measures during the coronavirus outbreak and to demand better working conditions.
Supermarket workers gathered at the entrance of the store with union flags and signs reading "They make profit avoiding social distance" and “Security is not for sale.”
The strike, called by General Union of Workers (UGT) and the Workers' Commissions (CCOO) at a national level, criticises the management of the health crisis by the company, which has been accused of not respecting the agreements previously reached regarding the payment of bonuses for overtime.
Maribel Canadas, general secretary of the Lidl section of the CCOO, said that they expect the company to “sit down to negotiate and that they will fulfil what they said earlier, because they have not fulfilled it, and we hope they respect it in the next negotiations, because they don't even respect what they signed.”