Tesco and Asda deny Bangladesh exploitation claims

Friday, 05 December 2008

Tesco and Asda have hit back at claims by charity War on Want that workers in Bangladesh producing clothing for the retailers are paid as little as 7p an hour.

The report also claims garment workers are made to work up to 80 hours a week, are subject to forced overtime and have their rights violated.

It says: "Retailers cannot continue to pay lip service to corporate social responsibility whilst engaging in buying practices that systematically undermine the principles of decent work."

The report blames "the aggressive buying practices of UK retailers" linked to the ‘fast fashion' trend.

But Tesco rebutted the claims and criticised War on Want for failing to name the factories involved.

A spokesman said: "The allegations are unsubstantiated and as War on Want have again decided not to engage with us on them we question whether their approach is the best way to tackle the complex issues surrounding the Bangladeshi garment industry.

"We take working conditions throughout our supply chain extremely seriously. We have no history of cut and running from suppliers while making clear we would work with any suppliers facing problems to help them improve worker conditions while ensuring that the interests of workers are protected.

"Therefore, claims workers are protected by withholding evidence are invalid and without producing evidence we can neither know whether there is any truth to them, nor go about putting right any possible concerns.

"We insist on high working condition standards, going to great lengths to ensure our suppliers meet them."

Asda said: "George at Asda has always been committed to doing the right thing for all our suppliers, customers and colleagues and although workers in the factories we use are not employed directly by Asda, we recognise we have a shared responsibility with other retailers to protect and promote global worker welfare.

"Lending our support to organisations like the ETI on collaborative initiatives is an effective way of tackling these issues.

"Globally, there is no one agreed method of calculating a standard ‘living’ wage. The local legislation in each country including Bangladesh may set minimum wages below what is considered a ‘living’ or ‘fair’ wage. The ETI is currently developing a project proposal to address wage issues which ASDA is supporting.

"One question Asda is often asked is why retailers don’t just pay more for products, however even if this were the case, these increases may not necessarily be passed onto workers by factory owners.

"Instead we are working directly with factory owners to create more sustainable businesses by improving factory conditions, improving efficiency in production techniques and therefore reducing working hours and aligning worker pay with these improvements in productivity.

"We work on long lead times and capacity book 90% of our orders out of Bangladesh to allow suppliers greater control of their production planning.

"It is important for us that we continue to offer our customers value product in these tough economic conditions but without any compromise to our ethical standards, ensuring George customers can shop with a clear conscience.

"We would welcome the opportunity to work with War on Want to identify any issues and formulate a structured plan to help resolve this."