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Tesco 'slave labour' row
Robert Mendick and Jonathan Prynn26.06.08
Tesco is accused today of exploiting workers who are paid an average 16p an hour.
A damaging investigation alleges that Britain's biggest retailer - which made a £2.8 billion profit last year - is being supplied by an Indian factory where textile workers earn, on average, £8.75 for a 54-hour, six-day week. The lowest paid receive less than £7 a week.
A researcher flown in from India will present the figures at the retail giant's annual shareholders' meeting tomorrow in an attempt to maximise Tesco's embarrassment.
The meeting in Birmingham is being used by several organisations and individuals to pick a fight with Tesco, which takes about one pound in seven spent on the High Street and is the world's third biggest retailer.
Tesco will also come under fire from:
• US presidential candidate Barrack Obama, who has written to Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy about workers' rights at its US subsidiary Fresh & Easy. The head of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents 1.3 million American employees, will attend the AGM.
• TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who is putting a resolution about chicken welfare to the AGM. He has paid £86,888 for the printing and circulation of his resolution.
• Chinese biology professor Shi Hai Tao, who plans to speak out about the treatment of live turtles in Tesco's Chinese stores.
The report into Indian factory conditions has been compiled by the charity War on Want and the campaign group Labour Behind the Label, which are demanding improved pay and conditions in factories which supply British high street chains.
Workers at the factory in Bangalore, which is not being named for fear of reprisals from bosses, make clothes on a contract basis for Tesco's hugely successful Florence and Fred range. It also manufactures garments for other High Street chains.
War on Want claims as many as four out of five women examined by doctors for the Indian workers' rights organisation Cividep showed evidence of malnutrition. The price of rice in India is said to have risen 20 per cent over the last year.
The report alleges that workers risk dismissal for failing to meet strict targets and are forced to work overtime but only receive money for half the extra hours recorded.
It also says factory bosses ordered employees, most of whom are women, to work on a Sunday to prevent them attending a union meeting scheduled for that day.
The Bangalore Garment and Textile Workers' Union has calculated that a living wage should be £52 a month.
Simon McRae, senior campaigns officer at War on Want, said today: "Our new evidence reveals how Tesco's cheap clothing comes at the shameful price of workers' poverty. Again and again scandals exposing UK retailers exploitinggarment workers underline that the public cannot trust stores to police themselves. It is high time the British government legislate to stop this abuse."
A Tesco spokesman said: "It's disappointing that War on Want has once again chosen to publicise unsubstantiated allegations without engaging with us. We have been trying to discuss our approach to ethical trading with them but they have ignored our calls. Now, out of the blue, they make these allegations without producing any evidence or giving us any detail on the factories they claim have problems. This means we cannot investigate.
"We insist on high standards and go to great lengths to ensure our suppliers meet them. If there is an issue in a factory supplying Tesco, we will deal with it and ensure the interests of workers are protected."
SUPERMARKET DEFIES CALLS TO PULL OUT OF ZIMBABWE
Tesco has confirmed it will not be pulling out of Zimbabwe as retailers face growing pressure to cut business ties amid the growing violence.
Supermarkets have been criticised for selling produce from the country where millions are starving under President Robert Mugabe's regime.
But Tesco said trade provided crucial support to small farmers, adding it would be "irresponsible" to leave now.
A spokesman said: "By trading with Zimbabwe we are supporting hundreds of small farmers and not the Mugabe government.
"There is precious little employment of any sort in Zimbabwe and it would simply be irresponsible to deprive thousands of people of their only means of feeding their families."
Tesco is among a number of British supermarkets who sell Zimbabwean sugar snap peas and fine beans.
Earlier this year Waitrose stood by its decision to sell fish from Zimbabwe, saying it stocked tilapia as a sustainable alternative to wild cod.
Reader views (5)
I belive the answer is simple and easy. Its the governments fault that it lets Tesco operate anywhere they like. In london we had choices, where to buy our food now all the small businesses, marketing and farmers have disappeared. This is due to Tesco's cheap prices and bulk buying, which lead to small business closing down. For example, Tesco will bribe the local council by saying "we will provide jobs in the local area, we will found schools or even we will build new roads for you". however these new roads are not for the benefit of the council its for their own interest, whihc will make the deliverys easy. and finaly how many small businesses can build road. the answer is not many and lastly how are small suppose to survive in these conditions. they can't
- Zaman Ali, London
I have to disagree with the last comment. I used to live in London where you have a good choice of where you shop. In rural Scotland that is not the case and, for someone on low income with no car and heavy shopping to get, where I live Tesco's home delivery service is the only choice. I do care for the environment and human beings - I support Action Aid, for example, and though I had never bought clothes fom Tesco, I had from Primart and Asda until I heard about their exploitation of Bangladesh workers. Please don't tar all Tesco customers with the same brush - some of us do care.
- S. Bruce, Scotland
People may want to stop shopping at Tesco because of the cheap wage they give to their workers but if they do they won't even get a cheap wage...they will get nothing then they will have no work and no money and be worse off then they are already. Not shopping there is not the answer it will just make things worse but people should still voice their opinions and tell these companies they are not happy with the way they treat their workers and they would sooner pay a few pounds extra then have Indian workers being underpaid.
- Pugwash84, England
How can a large multi-national like Tesco expect to have continuing success when the people who supply them are being trampled into the ground.
All of the millions of pounds spent on advertising cannot keep hidden the fact that Tesco will lose the goodwill of the buyers in this country.
My wife and I have just done our last shopping at Tesco stores even though the price is right and it's convenient.
Maybe more people should stop buying from an exploitive company like Tesco, then they will get the message.
- G Davies, Portsmouth
The problem here is that the sort of people who shop in Tesco care neither for other human beings or for the environment so nothing Tesco does will deter them from getting their cheap junk fix.
- D Nesco, London
