Around 20 people protested inside Nestle New Zealand’s head
office in down town Auckland, Friday 6 March, against the murder of unionists in the Phillipines and to show solidarity with the 600 Nestle workers in the Philippines who have been on strike for seven years. 
The strike began in 2002 around the workers’ right to negotiate their retirement benefits.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that the company must return to the negotiating table, but the company has ignored the ruling and continued the harrassment and repression of the striking workers.
There have been 23 unionists killed , including union leader Diosdado “Ka Fort” Fortuna. Ka Fort was assassinated on his way home from a picket line on September 22, 2005.
This is not the first killing of a high profile union leader. Ka Fort’s predecessor, Meliton Roxas, was assassinated in front of the picket line during a strike in 1989. No one has been charged for any of the murders.