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16 May, 2012
The 26th World Congress of the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers’ Association (IUF) is now being held in Geneva 15-18 May. A major focus of the Congress is a united condemnation of the appalling behaviour of Swiss-based Nestlé, the largest food company in the world.
The IUF has a longstanding campaign for the rights of workers throughout Nestlé’s global facilities. Great victories have been won in Pakistan and Indonesia, but serious rights abuses of Nestlé workers in those countries continue, as they do other countries.
This Congress will see affiliates, representing a combined 2.6 million trade union members, formulate a new plan of action to move Nestlé to act responsibly. The IUF Nespressure Campaign highlights the fast-growing profits of the market leader, CHF 110 billion in sales in 2011, with Nespresso one of the most profitable parts of the company. But even as profits soar for the company, management increases the pressure on its workers everywhere. Wages, conditions, and rights of Nestlé employees are constantly squeezed.
A new part of the global campaign will be launched at this week’s Ccongress, and serves as a clear example of Nestlé’s disregard for workers’ core labour rights. The “We are the 53!” campaign focuses on the vindictive mass-dismissal of 53 workers at a Nescafé factory in Panjang, Indonesia. Those workers were sacked because they organised and attempted to assert their rights.
The 53 are members of IUF affiliate SBNIP there and the union itself have struggled for years for the right to bargain collectively. When the bargaining deadlock forced workers to strike last year, management signed an agreement with the SBNIP to end the strike and subsequently promptly sacked the 53 key union activists.
Congress will establish a Nestlé Panjang Justice Fund to assist the workers and their families who now face hardship because of Nestlé’s disturbing actions.
See more information, and support the online campaign at IUF’s Nespressure website here.