problems make it all the more necessary for the trade unions operating within Nestlé to develop their own structured networks. The company‘s strategy is also reflected in the composition of the global trade union network, in that its core element is regional networks, but these are joined together by means of global meetings and by the provision of centralised, transnational information on the IUF website. 2.3. The attitude of central corporate management Nestlé central corporate management was already willing in the late 1980s to make Nestlé a pioneer in the establishment of European Works Councils and to grant the IUF a prominent position within that body. Yet the company has been very reluctant to accede to IUF demands that transnational industrial relations be developed in other regions of the world and globally. Since 1999 Nestlé central personnel management has demonstrated a certain readiness to attend IUF network meetings, using these as an opportunity to explain the company‘s philosophy and to increase acceptance of central corporate policy; it nevertheless resists all demands for anything more than voluntary co-operation and entailing any greater commitment. Management has declined first of all to participate regularly in net­work meetings for the purpose of information and dialogue and especially to contribute to funding these meetings; it likewise refuses to conclude a global agreement with the IUF formally recognising the IUF and the network in regions other than the EU. Trade union networking activities within Nestlé, and the attendant increase in the union’s organisational strength 5 , have in fact heightened(informal) 5 The trade union organisation and networking strategy within Nestlé is part of an overall IUF strategy towards transnational companies. The IUF has set itself a three-stage strategy in this respect, progressing from organisation to recognition to negotiation. It regards the formation and development of organisational strength in companies(its own and that of its affiliate organisations) as a prerequisite for recognition of the IUF by corporate management as a partner in dialogue and negotiation. 12