Collective Bargaining at Swiss Nestlé Factory Follows IUF Intervention

Posted to the IUF website 13-Aug-2004

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When Nestlé decided to create a new production facility at Orbe, Switzerland, to produce Nespresso products, the IUF affiliated union that organises Nestlé workers in Switzerland, the FCTA/VHTL, expected that Nestlé would recognize the union and sign a collective bargaining agreement as it has in all other Nestlé production sites in Switzerland.

In 2003 difficult negotiations finally led to a new agreement at the Nescafé factory also at Orbe. However for nearly a year, Nestlé refused to recognise and bargain with the union for the adjoining Nespresso facility. The reason given was that Nespresso does not fall under Nestlé Switzerland but directly under Nestlé Europe.

In the framework of the June meeting of the Nestlé European Council for Information and Consultation (NECIC), the FCTA/VHTL and the IUF asked top Nestlé management to intervene to encourage bargaining at the Nespresso facility. As of early August Nestlé and the FCTA/VHTL have begun collective bargaining at Nespresso Orbe. We will keep you informed of the progress of these negotiations.