Email to Ann McKechin MP submitted by
ActionAid
I hope you are well. I wanted to drop you a
note in response to Tuesday's IDC Fairtrade and Development hearing,
at which Tesco appeared. A report from De Havilland on the session
said that Tesco disputed ActionAid's 2005 research on women fruit
pickers in South Africa who work in supply chains to Tesco.[57]
"On a separate set of allegations made
by ActionAid relating to treatment of women cultivating fruit
in South Africa, Ms Reynolds insisted again that Tesco had not
been shown any evidence to support the claims that had suggested
that women were been paid poorly or had been exposed to dangerous
chemicals in pesticides.Tesco had set up a forum involving representatives
of the South African Government, farmers, Women on Farms and other
stakeholder, Ms Reynolds informed the committee.Asked if Women
on Farms was a Union by Joan Ruddock, Ms Reynolds stated that
she thought it was, but would confirm this to the Committee in
writing.Closing the Committee, Chair Malcolm Bruce asked how possible
it was to actually, accurately source all products and the relevant
supply chains."
We undertook the interviews in South Africa
with 21 workers on 7 farms accredited to supply Tesco on the basis
that their names and the farms they work on would be confidential,
in order to guarantee the safety and livelihood of those involved.
On publication of the report, Tesco refuted the claims we made,
including that the workers were exposed to pesticides. We stand
by the accuracy of our research. We conducted the research alongside
colleagues from ActionAid South Africa and our partner organisation
Women on Farms Project and the local trade union Sikhula Sonke
(We Grow Together), who we have worked with for a number of years.
In July 2006, we helped to bring one of the
women farm workers to speak at Tesco's AGM in London to ask the
Tesco board directly why they were refusing to admit to the problems
of low pay, bad housing and exposure to pesticides. They promised
to look into the problems and agreed to a new auditing system
which is due to be implemented on the farms in the area.[58]
We stand by the accuracy of our research. We
conducted the research alongside colleagues from ActionAid South
Africa and our partner organisation Women on Farms Project and
the local trade union Sikhula Sonke (We Grow Together), who we
have worked with for a number of years. We will continue to work
with our partners to ensure Tesco sticks to its commitments and
we see real improvements to the working conditions of the women
workers.
We will continue to work with our partners to
ensure Tesco sticks to its commitments and we see real improvements
to the working conditions of the women workers. We have met Tesco
on 2 occasions and have repeatedly explained that we cannot supply
them our documentary evidence and the names of our interviewees
for fear of breaching their confidentiality.
For ActionAid, the situation shows that supermarkets
such as Tesco are using their massive buying power to exploit
workers overseas by putting pressure on their suppliers to produce
goods cheaper and more flexibly, with extra costs and standards
imposed. A solution to the problem is needed at Government level,
as a voluntary approach to corporate social responsibility is
not bringing about the changes we need to see to corporate behaviour
across the board.
We are absolutely not calling for a boycott
of Tesco or any other supermarket. Our demand is for the UK Government
to introduce tougher rules to protect the rights of workers and
producers where UK companies operate overseas. We have made a
submission to the current Competition Commission inquiry into
the groceries market outlining our concerns. Our recommendation
is for the UK Government and the Competition Commission to establish
an independent regulator to enforce new standards that ensure
fair and effective competition between supermarkets and suppliers,
including overseas suppliers. It should have the power to investigate
complaints and to impose sanctions on supermarkets that violate
its standards.
ActionAid is happy to provide any more detail
to committee members and discuss the issues further.
March 2007
57 http://www.actionaid.org.uk/_content/documents/tesco_southafrica.pdf Back
58
http://www.actionaid.org.uk/1578/tesco_profits_at_expense_of_poor.html Back
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