Good Food, Good life! Bad labour practices, Bad reputation! Lets watch Nestle for demo!

Swiss Multinational corporation Nestle engaged in manufacture of milk products has famous underline: Good Food, Good Life. This underline can be seen at several places in Bicholim Taluka where one of the Nestle plant is located at Van-Maulingem village. The other plant is in Ponda Taluka of Goa. 

This post is concerned with controversial labour practices that has led to labour unrest and litigation over the past few years before the office of Labour commissioner, government of Goa. The central issue of contention is that Nestle has suspended some workers, dismissed others and refused to take them back on job. Labour exploitation and Environmental exploitation are the two facets of workings of capitation for profit maximization. 

Labour exploitation by Nestle is alleged by the workers and agitated in various phases so far. Crux of the matter as we understood after speaking to the agitation Union of the contract workers is this. Nestle refuses to owe responsibility to the fate of the workers who are not taken on the job just because they were engaged by the Contractor. Contractor hired the workers and Nestle benefited as Principal employer usurping surplus from workers efforts. 

Now these workers are denied Job and at the litigation at labour commissioner Nestle denies any links with workers and even refuses to delegate its representative. This has been going on for past almost two years, as we learn from the workers and from the available documents that involves minutes of various meetings convened by labour commissioner and  correspondence with Nestle Plant in Van-Maulingem. BMM contacted the President of the Nestle Contract Workers Union Anand Shirodker and we got the following status report:

Payment of Arreas of settlement benefits not paid to 30 workers for five years from 2013-14 to 2017-18. 

Sixteen workers are not taken on job after the break and contractors are insisting on c0ompiance to hire and fire policy of work. 

Three workers terminated from job allegedly for taking active part in Union activity.

Five workers terminated from from their work in Canteen.

International Union of Foods (IUF) was involved initially to support the workers but eventually ditched the workers for the reasons best known to IUF alone.

BMM will continue to bring updates to you on Nestle dispute at Van-Maulingem. This is the way will understand labour exploitation step by step.