In the last one month, retailers in France have been facing the heat of employee demonstrations on wage issue.
As per media reports, Zara, Primark, Galeries Lafayette have been hit by strikes and demonstrations outside their stores.
Apart from insisting on higher pay, employees are also asking for better working conditions in stores.
The issue has become more significant at a time when inflation is weakening the purchasing power of low-wage earners.
Just a few days back, representatives from various unions gathered employees on the ground floor of Galeries Lafayette store and all of them were unhappy with the € 400 bonus promised to staff. A new strike is therefore scheduled on the coming 9th December.
Similarly, around 50 employees congregated in front of the Zara store on rue Saint-Férréol in Marseilles to ‘ask for a salary rise’.
Imed Ben Ahmed, a representative of the UNSA trade union at Inditex, cited by La Voix du Nord said, “[The group] has achieved a record year globally, growing by 41 per cent and by 10 per cent in France, and yet it refuses to share. We received a ‘value sharing’ bonus of € 350, when equivalent companies have paid out in the region € 1,000. Wages have been raised, but only by the minimum level stipulated through statutory annual negotiations.”
There are reports that Inditex management is calling for dialogue, having already made wage hike during the year.
Reports also claim that outside the fashion chains, disputes have been intensifying in various French retail distribution sectors, notably at budget retailer Action, at the Leclerc hypermarkets, at leisure retailer Cultura and DIY specialist Castorama.
CGT has issued an appeal for all employees in the retail trade and services industries to strike and demonstrate today.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
