As a response to the New Zealand Parliamentary Commerce Committee inquiry into the price of milk, the New Zealand Dairy Workers' Union (NZDWU) reported that the benefits of the co-operative approach in dairy must not be lost.

The following highlights the journey so far:

·         2006 (mid) - IUF Regional Secretary Ma during the staff meeting of IUF India Outreach posed an idea, viz.  whether we could explore the possibility of an umbrella organization for dairy sector employees.

·         Late 2006 till March 2007 - initial contacts with dairy workers unions in the states of Andhra Pradesh (AP), Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and West Bengal were   established and as the responses of these unions were positive, work continued.

Following the example of last year’s victory at the GSK Horlicks plant in Nabha, northwest India, the union at the Horlicks plant in Rajmundry in Andhra Pradesh, won permanent jobs for 205 casual workers under the new Collective Agreement signed recently.

After two decades of precarious employment the 205 casual workers can finally access their fundamental trade union rights, joining the permanent workers’ union and securing the protection and benefits of the Collective Agreement for the first time. The number of permanent workers at the Horlicks Rajmundry plant is now 900.

Nearly two weeks after launching an unlimited strike at the Prolesur dairy plant in Osorno, Chile, 120 members of the Chilean Federation of Dairy Company Workers' Unions (FENATRAL) have won a collective agreement bringing substantial gains in wages and benefits. Prolesur is a subsidiary of Soprole, Chile's largest dairy company, which is 99.8% owned by New Zealand-based Fonterra.