Since yesterday the employers of Nestlé starting from the ice cream factory in Athens and then the warehouses, forced the workers to sign individual contract with wage cuts of -10% to -38%!!!

Unfortunately, this development confirmed the warnings of the Trade Union that with any government, the industrialists will be here, the exploitation will continue, it will continue destroying the workers’ wages and rights. The Nestlé Industry was one of the 11 multinationals in the meeting held in March 2013 with the old government to ask for reducing the wages so as to do “investments”. The attack against the workers of Nestlé Hellas continues now and with the new coalition government of SYRIZA-ANEL and we warn once again that the anti-labor measures will not stop.

Nestlé confirms:

• Rotating 2-day and 3-day work of production workers, so they do not have health booklet, and are not entitled to unemployment allowance.

• Dismissing of cleaners and workers in the distribution and re-hiring them through a contractor with half the money!

• Blackmails workers under the threat of dismissal to work to different factories, so as not to hire permanent staff.

The Nestlé is the No.1 global food company with sales of more than € 75.6 billion worldwide in 2013 (that equals 40% of the GDP in Greece …), with net profit of 32.67 million. EUR (!!!) in Greece the two years from 2011 to 2012. To achieve profitability it went on to layoffs, wage cuts, work intensification resulting in accidents, work for a few months a year and many of them through apprenticeships ie without the salary of the workers.

Delegation of the Federation and the Trade Union of Athens of Workers in the Food and Drinks Industries did an immediate protest yesterday 9/2 in the factory of Athens inviting workers to organize, not to sign the wage cuts and warning employers to immediately stop the anti-labor measures.

Colleagues, we were fed up these days with “national pride and dignity”, in Europe, in the lounges, in parliament and in the squares. But life for the worker inside the factory remains not only the same, but worse. We do not expect anything from the hollow and hypocritical promises to restore the minimum wage, to restore collective bargaining. Individual contracts under threat of dismissal like in Nestlé, shows what awaits us. Individual contracts to become the rule, that the famous restoration of the minimum wage will be translated into cutting all salaries to reach the minimum.

We call on workers in all factories of Nestlé around the country, to be fighting alert and immediate reaction if the cuts are attempted elsewhere. We call on the workers of Nestlé not to accept wage cuts and individual contracts. Even those colleagues, who signed under terrorisation and blackmail, join the union and withdraw their signature. We call on all workers in the industry to join the branch trade union and organize the struggle in every workplace. To fight to recover all the losses we had the time of crisis, to abolish all anti-labor laws.

The satisfaction of our contemporary needs and peoples’ dignity comes through the path of organization and struggle.

Trade Union of Workers in Food and Drinks Industries of Athens