The CNV trade union federation has started legal action against department store V&D for cutting staff wages by 5.8%.

Efforts by the union to get V&D to change its position have had no effect, the union said. ‘You cannot unilaterally do this to a primary benefit such as wages,’ negotiator Martijn den Heijer told news agency ANP.

The FNV union federation is waiting for a written reaction from V&D to its calls for a rethink. V&D said last month it would cut all salaries by 5.8% this year.

V&D is also under fire from its landlords for demanding a four-month rent holiday and a rent cut for all 63 locations from April.

Property firm IEF Capital has gone to court to have four branches – in Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Maastricht – evicted from their premises for not paying the rent. The verdict is due on Friday.