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Retailers criticised on supplier poverty wages |
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UK-based campaign group War on Want has added to controversy over the effectiveness of codes of conduct with a report that garment workers in Bangladesh supplying low-cost High Street names Tesco, Asda and Primark are being paid as little as 5p an hour (9.5 US cents) calculated on the basis of their basic wage and levels of overtime worked.
The report - Fashion Victims: The True Cost of Cheap Clothes - is based on worker interviews at six factories in Bangladesh. It alleges that 80 hour weeks are regularly worked and that the minimum is 10 hours a day for 6 days per week. The report also claims that basic wages can be as little as £8 per month (US$15.20) compared to a living wage of at least £22 ($41.80). Overtime is often unpaid leading to the low headline hourly rate. War on Want also alleges anti-union practices at some of the factories concerned. All three stores named in the report have codes of labour practice and inspection programmes but the report repeats the complaint often made that factory inspections are too superficial with double-books kept by managers and workers drilled to give the 'right' answers during interviews. All three stores named in the report have codes of labour practice and inspection programmes but the report repeats the complaint often made that factory inspections are too superficial with double-books kept by managers and workers drilled to give the 'right' answers during interviews. In response, all three companies have stated that they are committed to improving workplace standards. A spokesperson for Tesco, the UK's largest retailer, told the BBC "All suppliers to Tesco must demonstrate that they meet our ethical standards on worker welfare, which are closely monitored". |
