The CNV trade union says that Dutch supermarkets are guilty of age discrimination.

Figures published by the union show that teenagers are hired as shop assistants on short-term contracts which are not renewed when they turn 18. Invariably their replacements are 15- or 16-year-olds, who can be paid hourly wages which are a couple of euros lower.

The CNV young employee group brought one such case before the Equal Opportunities Commission in 2006, which found in favour of CNV. Yet since that time little appears to have changed. The union is calling on negotiators working on collective labour agreements to terminate age discrimination by supermarket employers.

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