Agency workers at Nestlé Perm get direct employment

160 union members – former agency workers – will soon be on the company’s payroll at Nestlé confectionary in the Russian city of Perm following the signing of an agreement that ended the union campaign against the growing use of precarious employment at the factory.

The Nestlé Perm Workers Union (a branch of the IUF-affiliated AIWU) started to organize agency workers at the Perm Kit Kat factory in October 2012. As the number of agency workers amongst the membership grew, the union decided to put forward the demand for direct employment. Following long and difficult negotiations, an agreement was reached in March providing for permanent employment for 87, and temporary direct employment for 73 union members formerly hired through an agency. Those who were given temporary contracts are entitled to priority hiring when new permanent jobs become available. All agency workers who had joined the union now work directly for Nestlé, are covered by the collective agreement and entitled to social benefits, bonuses and wage increases. The parties agreed to jointly develop a mechanism to evaluate the company’s needs for permanent employees in the future.

The Nestlé Perm Workers Union thanks the IUF and its affiliates for the support that made this agreement possible.

25 January 2013: One of several protest actions which took place during the dispute over the right to permanent employment. The rhyming slogan on the red banner sounds something like this:

“We make Kit Kat so highly prized, so we must have our jobs regularized!”