UK Supermarket Success Down To Third World Poverty

Tue, 24 Apr 2007
 
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The way in which British supermarkets conduct their business with developing countries is resulting in workers, particularly women, being denied basic human rights, and working for low pay and in appallingly dangerous conditions, a report by ActionAid has concluded.

UK shoppers enjoy low prices from supermarkets due to worker exploitation, with thousands being trapped in a cycle of poverty and insecurity, according to the development agency’s ‘Who Pays?’ report.

They have accused supermarkets, which take £7 out of every £10 spent on the high street, of using their vast market power to drive down prices at their overseas suppliers.

Claire Melamed, head of trade and corporates at ActionAid said, "The big four supermarkets are increasingly eager to prove their ethical credentials to their customers."

"In reality the supermarkets’ ever-growing profits are boosted by the scandalously low wages and appalling conditions suffered by the women who produce the food and clothes we buy every day."

Researchers from ActionAid found that supermarkets were paying wages of as little as 5p an hour in some Bangladeshi garment factories, while in India some workers processing cashew nuts were being paid just 30p per day, and suffer permanent damage to their hands from corrosive acids.

In Costa Rica banana price wars between UK supermarkets have meant that women working on plantations that supply Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s (the UK’s leading supermarkets) are forced out of regular work into casual piece-rate jobs, where wages are as little as 33 pence an hour.

ActionAid is urging the UK Government to set up an independent regulator, which would hold supermarkets accountable for their actions in third world countries. The agency, which operates in more than 40 countries, is also calling for supermarkets to publicly acknowledge the damaging impacts of buying practices on workers and suppliers, and take necessary steps to address them.

The report comes during an investigation by the Competition Commission into the £120 billion grocery sector.

The watchdog is looking into the relationship between supermarkets and their suppliers, but is struggling to persuade certain suppliers to speak out. The commission said it has "concerns" about how the supply chain works in the UK .

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