All of Carrefour's Belgium-based supermarkets were closed on Saturday 27 February, as employees went on strike in the wake of the announcement of restructuring plans by the group.

Carrefour had revealed last week plans to cut over 1,600 jobs and close 21 loss-making stores in the country, leading to an appeal by trade unions that lead to the closure of 61 supermarkets and 56 hypermarkets on Saturday.

It followed strike action taken on Wednesday 24 February that forced the closure of one-third of Carrefour's outlets in Belgium, the Associated Free Press reported.

According to the retailer, the Saturday strike merely served to increase the problems that the group was facing, and would cost it an estimated €14m in losses.

'The strike will cost a fortune. On top of that, we have lost customers,' Gerland Lavinay, the company's executive director for Belgium, told local publication l'Echo. 'We therefore have every interest in ensuring the strike doesn't continue.'

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