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Once again, German hard
discounter showed its true face: Lidl demanded that Czech and Polish women workers wear special headbands during their monthly periods Lidl has once again shown its true face. Lebensmittelzeitung, the leading commerce weekly, tells that the German hard discounter has forced its Czech saleswomen to wear a special headband during their menstruation periods. Reportedly, this practice was imposed on the women workers also in Poland, which shows that the management in Germany must have known and approved of it. The headband was forced on the women workers to allow supervisors to identify when they had their monthly periods, as they were the only ones allowed to go to the toilet, without asking for special permission. Other workers cannot do this except during scheduled daily breaks. Lidl has stepped over the limits of good taste, says the German commerce industry weekly. This is not the first time that the German discounter is in trouble in its new European markets. Recently, Lidl was caught for selling cocoa powder in Poland, which contained mainly starch, only 30 per cent was cocoa. In the Czech Republic, the company had more than 100 old trees cut down without permission, so that their stores became more visible from nearby roads. Lebensmittelzeitung reports on a growing irritation among Lidl's German competitors in these countries, who feel that the hard discounter is destroying the reputation of all of them. Many of these companies pay better wages, train their workers and recognise the trade unions. |
