The pay and conditions of women in South Africa producing fruit for Tesco have barely improved since ActionAid
first drew attention to the issue four years ago, the charity said today.
Jenny Ricks, ActionAid Campaigner said: "Tesco has increased its ethical checks in response to campaigning
pressure from ActionAid. This is a good step forward, but it has not yet translated into real improvements in women’s lives. Tesco promised to ensure workers are paid a living wage. Now
it’s time for them to deliver. The next step is to set up a pilot project to bring pay and conditions up to acceptable standards on an initial group of farms."
The charity is
reminding Tesco’s board of the promises it made to farmworker Gertruida Baartman, who has twice come to the company’s AGM to ask the board directly why her pay and conditions are so
poor.
South African workers like Gertruida are struggling to feed and clothe their children on poverty wages. Campaigners are calling for a living wage to be paid.
The
supermarket chain, which made £3 billion profit last year, is currently facing accusations about union-busting at its US subsidiary Fresh and Easy, and about the pay and conditions of foreign
agency workers at its meat and poultry suppliers in the UK. The annual general meeting (Friday 3 July) will provide an opportunity for concerned shareholders to raise questions about the treatment of
workers at Tesco's subsidiaries and suppliers.
The actor James Purefoy, who met women workers in South Africa with ActionAid in May, said: "It’s outrageous that
Tesco’s profits are topping £3 billion, when I met women in South Africa who were being paid £22 a week to pick the fruit that ends up on our supermarket shelves. As consumers
shouldn't we expect the people at the sharp end of the supply chain to be getting a better deal than that?."
ActionAid argues that Tesco could make a massive difference to
workers' lives without raising prices for consumers or losing significant profits. Workers currently get just three pence out of every pound that British consumers spend in Tesco on South African
apples.
Notes to Editors:
Media contacts: Tony Durham, Senior Media Officer on 020 7561 7636 or Susan Mearns, Celebrity Coordinator on 020 7561 7632.
James Purefoy is a British actor famous for his roles in the films 'A Knight's
Tale', 'Vanity Fair' and 'Resident Evil'. He also starred in several period dramas including the HBO/BBC television series 'Rome' playing Mark Antony and issues-based
dramas 'Diamonds' and 'The Summit'. This year sees him star in epic adventure film 'Solomon Kane' based on the stories by Robert E. Howard, creator of 'Conan the
Barbarian'. He has just finished filming 'The Philanthropist' for NBC which is a drama series based on the life of a billionaire who uses his money and influence to help people in
need.
He took a break from filming the show to visit women farm workers living on poverty wages in the Western Cape of South Africa. His fact-finding visit highlighted the problems and
challenges that women fruit pickers and packers face and how UK supermarkets giants like Tesco, major buyers of the fruit, are having a devastating effect on their lives. Spending 80% of their income
on food and struggling to get by on poverty wages, these women are being hit by the double impact of the financial and food crises in the developing world.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
People in a neighbouring block survey the damage at Lukanal House after six people died in a fire in Camberwell, south London July 4, 2009. A three-week-old baby and two children ...
