Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Paul Bulcke and Frits Van Dijk visit Nestle Philippines

"Bank chief charged by employees, officers"
by Emil Jurado
Published 22 June 2011, TO THE POINT, Manila Standard Today
(Original article available online here)


"***
One hundred years of operations here in the Philippines is truly a milestone for Nestlé Philippines Inc., the subsidiary of the Swiss-based world fs largest food and nutrition conglomerate.

In a month-long run-up to its anniversary, NPI ran several heartwarming institutional and product commercials on television and radio, all aimed at reminding the public of the value and significance of its long presence in the Philippines. High-profile corporate social responsibility projects were also set into motion.

Unfortunately for NPI and its special guests for the anniversary celebrations who have come to the Philippines from Nestlé fs head office in Switzerland \chief executive Paul Buicke and executive vice president Frits Van Dijk \some serious and long pending issues may serve as party poopers.

These issues, for sure, won ft be on the program fare, but will or should come out during business discussions between the local and foreign Nestlé executives.

To start off, there is the labor issue in NPI fs Cabuyao, Laguna plant that has been festering for almost 10 years and has been blamed for the deaths of a number of strikers. Despite a Supreme Court ruling handed down in 2006 that ordered NPI to hire back the strikers and start negotiations, the company has stood firm, in defiance of the order.

There, too, are the cases filed against NPI by some of its distributors, who cited Nestlé fs policies and practices that have severely affected their operations, to the point that a number of them have closed shop.

Unfortunately for Nestlé and other multinational companies, the noise created by those cases versus NPI has reached the ears of legislators in both chambers of Congress, who have found extra cause to pursue an Anti-Trust measure that will precisely address the so-called bullying tactics of giant multinationals like NPI.

The two visiting executives of Nestlé probably went sleepless after NPI fs 100th anniversary festivities, and its wouldn ft have been due to downing several cups of their favorite brand of coffee."

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