Call for unlimited strike at Lidl over Sunday working: "It must remain voluntary"

Several Lidl employee unions are calling for an indefinite strike starting Thursday . The reason is management's intention to extend the opening of its stores to Sundays and public holidays starting June 1st.

"The employee didn't ask for anything," reacts Thierry Chantrenne, a CGT representative, one of the unions calling for the strike. "People want to work, there's no problem, but it has to be truly voluntary and not mandatory, as they want to make it." By law, Sunday work must be voluntary, but there are numerous exemptions in the private sector that allow companies to force their employees to work on Sundays.

More and more companies are implementing Sunday work. "For the past twenty years, there has been an increase in this trend, driven by consumer demand," notes Bernard Vivier, director of the Higher Institute of Labor, on RMC .

But this "social evolution poses problems in terms of the pace of life," according to this specialist. "We work because it gives us an income, it allows us to flourish, but we also need to have time for ourselves and for our loved ones," remarks Bernard Vivier on Apolline Matin .

Lidl CGT representative Thierry Chantrenne also criticized the amount of bonuses offered by management to employees who work on Sundays. They were too low given the effort required. "A woman who is forced to work on a Sunday will be paid 30%. If she earns 15 euros, she will earn 5 euros more per hour worked. If she works 5 hours, she will earn 25 euros gross. 20 euros net," he explains.

Management denies having held discussions with the unions and insists that none of its supermarkets have been announced as closing on Thursday. The inter-union movement was joined by the CFDT, CGT, CFTC, and FO, but the UNSA, the majority union, did not join this call.

The German retailer is going through a turbulent period at the start of 2025. The discounter is failing to increase its market share and its vice-president resigned at the end of January.