Friday June 27, 11:31 AM
Tesco AGM Faced With Slave Labour Claim
By Sky News
Supermarket giant Tesco will come under fire at its AGM over claims that Indian workers supplying ir with clothes are being paid as little as 16p an hour. It will also face demands from TV cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to improve its chicken
rearing standards.Charity War on Want has flown in a researcher from India to present the potentially damaging findings to shareholders. It claims Tesco is being supplied by a factory in Bangalore whose staff take home less than £1.50 a day on average and work a basic 54-hour week. The lowest paid allegedly earn less than £7 a week making goods that end up in the chain's successful Florence and Fred clothing range. Tesco, which made a £2.8bn profit last year, said the allegations were "unsubstantiated". Simon McRae, of War on Want, said: "Again and again, scandals exposing UK retailers exploiting garment workers underline that the public cannot trust stores to police themselves. "It is high time the British government legislate to stop this abuse." But the supermarket hit back, saying attempts to discuss its approach to ethical trading with the charity had fallen on deaf ears. A Tesco spokesman said: "Once again we call on War on Want to provide the evidence and not to hide behind claims that they are protecting workers by withholding evidence." Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall will ask shareholders to back a resolution urging Tesco to meet minimum chicken rearing conditions laid down by the RSPCA. This would effectively mean farmers having to use slower-growing breeds and give birds more space to move around. By selling factory-farmed chickens Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall claims Tesco is "breaching its own animal welfare policy". Tesco was strongly criticised earlier this week for importing produce from Zimbabwe amid claims the deals help to prop up the Mugabe government. But the store insisted it was supporting the country's small farmers, not the regime.
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