Shocking new report has claimed that supermarket giant Tesco is paying some workers in a factory in India just 16p per hour.
The investigation, carried out by charity War On Want and campaign group Labour Behind The Label, said Tesco pays textile workers an average of £8.75 for a six-day week.
It claimed the lowest paid staff at the factory in Bangalore were on a wage of just £7 per week.
The figures are to be presented to a Tesco shareholders' meeting in Birmingham tomorrow by the Indian researcher who compiled the report.
Last year Tesco reported profits of £2.8billion - it is estimated that one in every seven pounds spent on Britain's high streets goes to one of its stores.
The damaging allegations say the factory in question makes clothing for Tesco's Florence and Fred range.
The report said the living wage in the region should be £52 a month. It claimed one female worker at the factory, Haneefa, earns just £38 a month.
She said: 'I don't buy anything for myself. I can't save anything from what I earn. It is difficult to survive on this money.'
Simon McRae, senior campaigns officer at War on Want, said: 'Our new evidence again reveals how Tesco's cheap clothing comes at the shameful price of workers' poverty.
'Again and again, scandals exposing UK retailers exploiting garment workers underline that the public cannot trust stores to police themselves. It is high time the British government legislate to stop this abuse.'
Martin Hearson, campaigns coordinator at Labour Behind the Label, said: 'How many times do we need to hear stories like these before Tesco gets its act together and pays workers a living wage?'
A spokesman for Tesco said:' They have published unsubstantiated allegations without engaging with us.
'They won't tell us where these factories are or who's working within them.'
When asked if the wage figures were accurate, he said: 'We don't know because they won't substantiate them.
'We have been trying to discuss our approach to ethical trading with them for some time but they have simply ignored our calls.
'And now out of the blue they make these allegations without producing any evidence or giving us any detail on the factories they claim have problems.
'This means we cannot investigate, so once again we call on War on Want to provide the evidence and not to hide behind claims that they are protecting workers by withholding evidence.
'We insist on high standards and go to great lengths to ensure our suppliers meet them. If there is an issue in a factory supplying Tesco we will deal with it and ensure that the interests of workers are protected.'
Source http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=193152&in_page_id=34
The investigation, carried out by charity War On Want and campaign group Labour Behind The Label, said Tesco pays textile workers an average of £8.75 for a six-day week.
It claimed the lowest paid staff at the factory in Bangalore were on a wage of just £7 per week.
The figures are to be presented to a Tesco shareholders' meeting in Birmingham tomorrow by the Indian researcher who compiled the report.
Last year Tesco reported profits of £2.8billion - it is estimated that one in every seven pounds spent on Britain's high streets goes to one of its stores.
The damaging allegations say the factory in question makes clothing for Tesco's Florence and Fred range.
The report said the living wage in the region should be £52 a month. It claimed one female worker at the factory, Haneefa, earns just £38 a month.
She said: 'I don't buy anything for myself. I can't save anything from what I earn. It is difficult to survive on this money.'
Simon McRae, senior campaigns officer at War on Want, said: 'Our new evidence again reveals how Tesco's cheap clothing comes at the shameful price of workers' poverty.
'Again and again, scandals exposing UK retailers exploiting garment workers underline that the public cannot trust stores to police themselves. It is high time the British government legislate to stop this abuse.'
Martin Hearson, campaigns coordinator at Labour Behind the Label, said: 'How many times do we need to hear stories like these before Tesco gets its act together and pays workers a living wage?'
A spokesman for Tesco said:' They have published unsubstantiated allegations without engaging with us.
'They won't tell us where these factories are or who's working within them.'
When asked if the wage figures were accurate, he said: 'We don't know because they won't substantiate them.
'We have been trying to discuss our approach to ethical trading with them for some time but they have simply ignored our calls.
'And now out of the blue they make these allegations without producing any evidence or giving us any detail on the factories they claim have problems.
'This means we cannot investigate, so once again we call on War on Want to provide the evidence and not to hide behind claims that they are protecting workers by withholding evidence.
'We insist on high standards and go to great lengths to ensure our suppliers meet them. If there is an issue in a factory supplying Tesco we will deal with it and ensure that the interests of workers are protected.'
Source http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=193152&in_page_id=34
