News

On 23rd of November, on the occasion of its extraordinary meeting, the Metro EuroForum, the European Works Council for the Metro group, signed an opinion on the imminent demerger of the Metro group.

The demerger, officially announced before the summer this year, will take effect only in Mid 2017 when the shareholders assembly will approve the deal and the group will be split into two separate legal entities listed on the stock exchange.

Since the announcement, the EuroForum has asked management to respect the information and consultation rights emanating from its agreement and organized already two extraordinary meetings to discuss the consequences of the demerger on employees.

As a result of the demerger, two separate EWCs will be formed. One for the wholesale and food company (what is now called Metro cash and carry and Metro) and one for the consumer electronic sales line (Media Markt Saturn). The name of the new companies is yet to be disclosed.

EuroForum members have issued an opinion, to which management has the obligation to reply in writing, emphasizing the following three points:

The safeguard of the current employment level also after the demerger
The financial stability of the new companies
The continuation of the dialogue with the unions and the establishment of two EWCs for the new companies

The opinion has been signed by all EuroForum representatives and Uni Global Union and presented to management,  and will be translated in all the EuroForum languages.