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By Corina Pons and Helen Reid
(Reuters) -Workers at Zara plan to protest outside stores in seven European countries on Black Friday, a key sales day, to demand a profit-sharing scheme be reinstated, the European Works Council for parent company Inditex said on Friday.
Spain’s CCOO union is coordinating the planned November 28 protests with unions in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and Portugal, set to take place in front of Zara stores in major cities.
Rosa Galan, representative for CCOO at Inditex, told Reuters that Inditex previously had a profit-sharing scheme, but that it was removed after the pandemic.
“We are once again asking that a company that has huge profits, which are the result of the work of its staff, distribute those profits fairly,” said Galan.
Inditex did not respond to a request for comment. It was not clear how many workers were expected to participate in the protests.
The world’s biggest listed fast-fashion retailer has enjoyed strong sales growth in the years since the coronavirus pandemic ended, and its shares have doubled in value since three years ago.
Black Friday – the last Friday of November – and the weeks around it are a key sales period that retailers use to lure shoppers into stores and clear old stock before bringing in new holiday collections. Retail workers worldwide also use the day to spotlight their demands through strikes and protests.
On the eve of Black Friday in 2022, workers in Spain protested to demand higher pay, and three months later Inditex agreed a 20% increase in average wages for store workers in its home country.
(Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Susan Fenton)
