Additional Information
Labor relations
Employees
During 2006, Ahold had an average number of 163,866
full-time employees equivalents compared to 168,568 in
2005 and 231,003 in 2004.
For information about the average number of persons
employed by Ahold in 2006, see the table "Average number
of employees in full-time equivalents" in Note 5 to the
consolidated financial statements included in this
Annual Report.
Union relations and works councils
As of December 31, 2006, approximately 88,600 employees
in Ahold's U.S. retail operating companies and
approximately 5,000 employees in the Company's U.S.
Foodservice operating companies were represented
by unions.
Most of Ahold's collective bargaining agreements for
employees in the Netherlands expire in April 2007. The
collective bargaining agreement covering the majority of the
Company's distribution employees has been renewed
effective April 2006 and will expire in October 2007. Ahold
expects to commence the negotiation process with the
relevant trade unions in the course of 2007.
Ahold Nederland B.V. and all of Ahold's operating
subsidiaries in the Netherlands currently have works
councils. A works council is a representative body of the
employees of a Dutch enterprise elected by the employees.
The management board of any company that runs an
enterprise with a works council must seek the advice of the
works council before taking certain decisions with respect to
the enterprise, such as those related to a major restructuring
or a change of control. If the decision to be taken in respect
of these matters is not in line with the advice of the works
council, the implementation of the relevant decision must be
suspended for one month. The management board must
also seek advice for a proposal to appoint or dismiss a
member of the management board. During the one-month
suspension period, the works council may file an appeal
against the decision with the Enterprise Chamber
(Ondernemingskamer) of the Court of Appeals in
Amsterdam. Other decisions directly involving employment
matters that apply either to all employees, or certain groups
of employees, such as those affecting employee
compensations systems, or pension or profit-sharing plans,
may only be taken with the works council's approval.
Absent such prior approval, the decision may nonetheless
be taken with the prior approval of the Court (Rechtbank).
As Ahold Nederland B.V. is subject to mitigated structure
regime, a works council may recommend a candidate for
appointment to the Supervisory Board and may also object
to the appointment of a proposed candidate to the
Supervisory Board.
Furthermore, although only a minority of Ahold's employees
in the Czech Republic are union members, all of the
Company's employees in the Czech Republic are covered by
a collective bargaining agreement that expires at the end of
2007. No employees in Slovakia are union members.
Ahold considers its labor relations to be satisfactory.
Exchange controls
Currently, there are no limitations, other than those
described under "Taxation" below, regarding the payment
of dividends by Ahold to non-residents of the Netherlands or
any other payments to or from non-resident holders of Ahold
securities.
The existing laws and regulations of the Netherlands impose
no limitations on non-resident or foreign owners with respect
to holding or voting common shares other than those also
imposed on resident owners. Ahold's Articles of Association
do not impose any limitation on (1) remittances to or from
abroad regarding dividends or capital or (2) rights of non
resident or foreign owners to hold or vote common shares.
IT outsourcing agreements
On November 14, 2005, Ahold signed three outsourcing
agreements relating to different aspects of its information
technology ("IT") systems. The first agreement is with
Electronic Data Systems Corporation, EDS Information
Services, L.L.C. and their subsidiaries ("EDS") pursuant to
which EDS has undertaken to provide Ahold with global IT
enterprise outsourcing, including applications maintenance
services in the United States. As part of the agreement, EDS
has assumed responsibility for maintaining Ahold's global IT
infrastructure, which includes hosting its mainframe and
midrange servers and providing local-area network and
voice network support. Under the agreement, EDS provides
consolidated IT helpdesk support for more than 10,000 of
Ahold's users. EDS also manages a portion of Ahold's
workplace desktops, laptops and printers, as well as its email
clients. As part of the arrangement with EDS, approximately
450 of Ahold's employees located in the United States and
the Netherlands have transitioned to EDS. The second
agreement is with Atos Origin Nederland B.V. ("Atos Origin")
pursuant to which Atos Origin has undertaken to provide
Ahold with IT application maintenance and support services
in the Albert Heijn Arena. The third agreement is with NCR
Nederland N.V. ("NCR") pursuant to which NCR has
undertaken to provide Ahold with in-store IT support
services in the Albert Heijn Arena.
142 Ahold Annual Report 2006
