3 July, 2017On 29 June, management of EDF Luminus, a Belgian subsidiary of the EDF group, dismissed 14 people in violation of Belgian law, according to a statement by members of the EDF group's Committee for Dialogue on Social Responsibility (CDRS).
The members of the Global Committee for Dialogue on Social Responsibility represent employees of the EDF group and have published the following statement:
"In total contradiction with the rules of the gas and electricity sector of Belgium, management abruptly fired the workers, some of them via text message, without any sort of negotiation with their union representatives.
"The members of the Global Committee for Dialogue on Social Responsibility (CDRS), representing the workers of the EDF group and meeting at a plenary session, firmly reject these shameful and unacceptable practices and refuse to let them extend to other workers.
“While the management of EDF was sitting down to discuss the issues in Belgium with the CDRS, this decision was being taken in Brussels, highlighting the cynicism of EDF management.
“Although EDF might cloak itself in claims of social responsibility, the CDRS notes that the top management of the group endorsed these actions.
"The management of EDF has scandalously broken their own ethical standards and shown that the EDF Group Agreement on Social Responsibility is worth little more than a used rag."
IndustriALL Global Union energy director Diana Junquera Curiel, says:
"This unacceptable behavior is in clear violation of Article 6 of our CSR agreement, which deals with anticipation and direction in industrial restructuring processes. We urge management to immediately engage in dialogue with the unions and resolve the situation. "