Lidl under fire in Greece
The discount supermarket chain Lidl is facing massive criticism under the hashtag cancel_Lidl on social media over its treatment of an elderly woman who was caught trying to steal food at a store in Athens. The store manager called the police and pressed charges against the needy senior citizen even though several customers had offered to pay for the food. Lidl has since withdrawn the charges.
Staff also affected
Lidl is not only harsh towards its customers, the Athens Federation of Private Employees criticises in a statement published by Imerodromos:
“The crocodile tears shed by the company in a statement today because this issue attracted so much attention can't hide its real policy: Lidl spends millions on advertising its compassion and charity work while paying its store employees 400 euros a month and demanding that they work at a pace that far exceeds human limitations! Its policy is to make unfounded accusations that workers have stolen money and threaten them with criminal prosecution to force them to resign!”
Many can't afford to boycott the company
Avgi points out:
“It's the economic plight of the overwhelming majority of consumers that forces them to shop at Lidl. ... And this section of the population is financially unable to support boycotts or movements like cancel_LIDL because their wallets simply don't allow them to. As inflation and price increases intensify, the number of those whose only consumption criterion is to put as many products in their shopping baskets for as little money as possible, inevitably dropping any health, environmental, ethical or other concerns they might have if their economic situation were better, will multiply.”