Agreement on restarting Lunch Garden: 41 restaurants remain open, 430 employees can stay

Of the 62 branches, 41 can reopen, and approximately 430 employees can return to work. Lunch Garden reported this on Wednesday.

“The restaurant chain will continue with a more agile structure and free from its historical debts,” it said in a press release.

Of the 41 restaurants, 24 will be self-managed and 17 will be operated by an independent operator. “A total of approximately 430 employees could return to work at Lunch Garden’s own restaurants and the franchisees.”

The following restaurants will open their doors again: Nivelles, Tournai Bastions, Wijnegem, Kuringen (Hasselt)Mons (Bergen), Legs, Lier, NinoveFléron, Shotsbeer, Webbekom (Diest)Haine-St.-Pierre, Herstal, Drogenbos, OostakkerJemappes, Bomerée, Zemst, Korbeek-LoMarche, Brugge B-Park, Sint-Maarten Brasserie (Mechelen), Imelda Brasserie(Bonheiden), Genk, HaveSoignies, Eupen, St. Eloois (Waregem), Borsbeek(Antwerp)Jumet, Couillet, TernatWépion, Waterloo, Ans, Boncelles, TurnhoutGosselies, Kraainem en Rocourt.

Lunch Garden was declared bankrupt on Monday. It was immediately clear that a restart was being worked on. Before the bankruptcy, the chain had 600 employees of its own and another 200 at independent restaurants.

The unions have mixed reactions now that it was announced on Wednesday that an agreement has been reached on a restart of the Lunch Garden restaurant chain with 41 of the 62 restaurants that can reopen. More than half of employees keep their jobs, “but under what conditions”, ACV and BBTK wonder.

The Christian union is satisfied that there is a rescue, but regrets that about half of the people are losing their jobs. There is also concern about working conditions. “How will people who have worked there for twenty or thirty years react, people who will now evolve towards flexibility that will be pushed to the limits in the catering industry,” asks trade union secretary Sandra Antenucci of ACV Food and Services.

“Climate of social dialogue must be reinvented”

Investor CIM Capital seems to enjoy the trust of the employee representatives. “But trade union work will start again from scratch. A climate of social dialogue must be reinvented,” said Antenucci.

“If they do not want social dialogue, we will force it,” BBTK secretary Stéphane Piron added. “The future of a company is built with its employees, so that they feel good about themselves and want to perform well.”

The unions do feel that they had little say in the entire file. The restart was completed the day after the bankruptcy was declared. The unions were only informed to a limited extent via the works council. For ACV, on the other hand, all cards should have been on the table.

“It is difficult to re-shoot this film,” says Stéphane Piron of BBTK. “But there certainly should have been more respect for the employees in the way they were informed.” The employee representatives will now inform the supporters. The management hopes to reopen the doors on Friday.