4.2. The twin pillars of transnational trade union networking within Nestlé Trade union networking within the Nestlé corporation rests on two central pillars. The first is the common interest of all participants in exchanging information and experiences with one another. Exchanges of information and experience currently constitute the key function of the network and have until now been mainly confined to the network meetings themselves. By fostering reciprocal learning processes, exchanges of information and experience enhance the skills of delegates and strengthen the representation of trade union interests at the individual Nestlé sites. 14 They simultaneously facilitate a better understanding of Nestlé‘s global strategy and the onward march of restructuring processes extending beyond plant, national and regional levels. This improves the likelihood that the trade unions operating at the various Nestlé factories will manage to resist being played off against one another as a result of regional production and relocation strategies and will be able to withstand threats of relocation. The 14 For a significant proportion of network members, learning(in the sense of a top-down communication of information and skills so as to strengthen local trade union work) is the number one purpose of networking. The learning aspect encompasses(1) the(vertical) communication by the IUF of information about central Nestlé strategy, which enables local trade union delegates to conceptualise decisions taken by local Nestlé management and place them in a wider context, and can in some cases make participants realise the need for comprehensive trade union communication, co-ordination and harmonisation, (2) the(vertical and horizontal) communication of experience and information about customs and practices in dealing with management in other countries and sites: this can put an end to isolation and reduce uncertainties about what standards(e.g. concerning information or health and safety) are normal and what demands legitimate, thereby strengthening the unions‘ powers of negotiation,(3) the(horizontal) communication of skills and know-how relating to interest representation(especially negotiating skills) from more experienced trade unions to less experienced ones(e.g. the Indonesian and Russian Nestlé unions, founded only a few years ago), and(4) the(horizontal) exchange of information, which sheds light on similar sets of problems, thereby engendering learning processes and revealing common points of departure. 41