Agreement at Danone Dairy Belgium restricts casual employment

The IUF-affiliated Food and Services Union (ACV-CSC) has successfully negotiated a local agreement at Danone Dairy Belgium’s Rotselaar plant which strictly defines and restricts the use of non-permanent employment. The agreement was negotiated within the framework of the IUF-Danone agreement on Sustainable Employment and Access to Rights, which mandates and facilitates local negotiations aimed at limiting casual employment.

The local agreement specifies the functions at the Rotselaar plant which can and cannot be done by workers recruited through agencies, particularly for safety reasons; stipulates that agency workers must receive adequate training for the job and can never be left to work alone on a production line; and mandates equal pay and conditions for workers on fixed-term contracts.

Under the agreement, agency workers’ contracts cannot exceed 6 months, after which they receive a Danone contract. Following one year at the job these contracts are in turn converted to permanent, open-ended contracts with Danone, with accumulated seniority.

The local agreement also provides for improvements in health care, ergonomics and maternal leave.