Nestlé European Works Council / 7-9 November 2011

At the November 8 meeting of the Nestlé European Works Council in Geneva, Switzerland, representatives of twenty Nestlé unions from across Europe collectively called on the company to immediately halt attacks on trade union rights in Indonesia and in Pakistan. More…

Within the European Works Council, union representatives continue to critically raise major corporate initiatives which pose threats to trade union work and trade union rights. The individual “Performance Evaluation” and performance-linked remuneration are an attack on collective bargaining and a threat to solidarity, social cohesion and trade union organization in the workplace. We have made our opposition clear, adding that we will continue to challenge and resist the introduction of PE for all but management grades.

“Behaviour-based safety” involves a system of “safety visits” which amounts to reporting safety infractions committed by fellow workers. Following criticism of these practices and based on the initiative of unions in Italy to insist that this process not be individualized, the company has confirmed that anonymity is a point of principle and is to be guaranteed.

At an ad hoc meeting on NCE, Nestlé confirmed, when asked, that the greatest obstacle to NCE implementation was management resistance. Discussions centered on specific problems linked to implementation (stress, work overload, adaptation time) and the need for just compensation for what Nestlé calls “employee empowerment” : added working time (structured shift hand-over) and enhanced responsibilities and skills.