You Have to See the World As It Is, but Try and Change It Anyway

Geneva, 20 December 2006

OPEN LETTER

Dear Mr. Cantarell,

«You have to see the world as it is, but try and change it anyway.»

This is how you have described your vision of the Group’s development in Europe. As Nestlé employees, we take you at your word. We too want change - and urgently at that.

While Nestlé takes great pains to satisfy the financial community and "deliver shareholder value", we, its workers, face uncertainty as results are published and our prospects for the immediate future take shape. The frequent reference to "benefits from efficiency programmes", may excite a financial analyst, but for Nestlé workers and their unions, they mean job losses, downsizing, flexibility demands and outsourcing and they foretell of continuous restructuring and persistent attacks on wages, terms and conditions.

The fact is, Nestlé is achieving its exceptional results on the back of factory closures, job cuts, and successive cost-cutting programmes that have led to deteriorating working conditions.

We, the members of the European Works Council, wish to convey the dissatisfaction of employees in Europe over the harmful effects of Nestlé policy.

This is the Nestlé universe as we see and experience it …

The Nestlé universe is ever-changing: factory disposals and production transfers; workforce reductions, outsourcing and cost-saving measures; co-packing arrangements and joint ventures with a variety of partners, such as currently with Lactalis. Yet we, as Nestlé employees, are always informed of these changes very late or only inadequately. The European Works Council (NECIC), essentially the recognised partner for enterprises undergoing restructuring, is constantly being presented with a fait accompli and its demands fobbed off.

As representatives of Nestlé workers, we will no longer put up with this flagrant disregard for our rights as employees!

We the undersigned demand that Nestlé management at all levels should:

·  observe strictly the Nestlé principle that “the employees are our most valuable resource“ in their decision-making and communications.

·  place sustainable and socially acceptable development of the business above short-term profits.

·  take all stakeholders seriously and inform them fully, clearly and in good time.

·  respect and guarantee the right of workers’ representatives to be heard.

·  involve the European Works Council fully in discussions on the development of the business.

Yours sincerely

Jörg Lindner Ron Oswald
NECIC Chair IUF General Secretary