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Metro Group closes large
numbers of former Wal-Mart stores in Germany - ver.di announces protest
manifestation in Düsseldorf German commerce multinational Metro wants to close 16 Wal-Mart hypermarkets and the company's Wuppertal headquarters. The announcement has both surprised and angered the company's German employees, who see the Düsseldorf-based commerce giant's decision as arrogant and unfounded. UNI Commerce affiliate ver.di has summoned members to a manifestation outside the group's headquarters on 21 February. Wal-Mart was never a success story in Germany, and not surprisingly it became fast known for its poor treatment of its workers. Last year, the American Arkansas-based retail giant finally decided to throw in the towel and sold out to the Metro Group. Instead of expanding its Real supermarket network through the purchase, the deal appears to have been equally about buying away a competitor from the market. One cannot avoid this impression as the draconian shop closures are announced. For now at least it seems that the Metro Group is just sending the former Wal-Mart workers out on the street. As the workers and their union points out, the often declared objective of raising customer services standards in the group's German retail operations have not been visible in this operation. And the cold profit motives have decidedly dominated the day while workers once again have been treated as an expandable commodity.
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