Inside a Sweatshop in India

War on Want

OneWorld.net note: Tesco, the largest retailer in the United Kingdom, should be leading the way toward ensuring the rights of those who produce and manufacture its products. Instead, Tesco's garment workers in India make less than a living wage and are subject to precarious working conditions, states labor rights researcher Suhasini Singh.

A work by famed grafitti artist Banksy depicts children pledging allegiance to the Tesco flag. Tesco is the largest retailer in the United Kingdom. © jordi.martorell (flickr)Tesco is a UK-based grocery and general merchandise retail chain. This year, it became the fourth largest retailer in the world. While Tesco is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, Indian garment workers who manufacture Tesco clothes work in sweatshop conditions, getting paid £1.50 a day (US $3.00) -- only half a living wage.
Last month, Tesco came under fire during its annual shareholder meeting, where celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall called on the company to improve the standards of care for its chickens. Only 8.9 percent of the shareholders voted for the measure while another 9.8 percent abstained from the vote. Another organization, Care for the Wild, has accused Tesco of speeding the extinction of freshwater turtles.
War on Want is a UK-based anti-poverty organization that campaigns for workers' rights. One of their initiatives, "Supermarkets and Sweatshops," focuses on the links between supermarket retailers and the workers that produce their goods. War on Want is an ally of Bangalore-based Cividep, an organization that serves both as a watchdog for labor conditions in India and as a labor organizer.
On Jun. 23, 2008, the BBC released a documentary entitled "Primark: On the Rack." The documentary focuses on sweatshop conditions -- including child labor -- in Bangalore, India. Primark, a UK-based clothing company, fired three of its Indian suppliers as a result of the documentary. War on Want and Cividep both contributed to the film.

UK retailers under increasing media spotlight

From: War on Want

In June 2008, War on Want received extensive media coverage after we advised the BBC on issues around garment workers in the developing world. Simon McRae, senior campaigns officer, was interviewed for the Panorama programme Primark: On the Rack, which was watched by over four million viewers.

Our campaign (recently including a protest outside Primark) to improve working conditions and win a living wage for workers supplying clothing to high street chains and supermarkets, was widely covered in the mainstream newspapers, TV and radio.

Furthermore, War on Want, together with Labour Behind the Label, funded a speaking tour for Suhasini Singh (pictured below outside Tesco's AGM). Suhasini is a researcher with the India-based NGO Cividep, which has provided War on Want with research on labour rights issues and factory conditions in Bangalore.

Suhasini gave War on Want direct testimony from workers and information about the conditions faced by those making garments for massive UK companies like Tesco. She was able to attend the company’s AGM and speak directly to Tesco’s CEO, Sir Terry Leahy, about the conditions and pay in the sweatshops that make clothes for Tesco.

As the biggest retailer in the country, and a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, Tesco should be leading the way in ensuring that workers making its products are paid a living wage, have the right to join a trade union and don’t work excessive hours or under poor conditions. Instead, research carried out by Suhasini for War on Want in Bangalore found that workers in factories supplying Tesco were paid half a living wage, finding it even more difficult to get by now with the increase in global food prices. She took time to answer some questions for us.

Q: What were the conditions and pay like in the factories that you investigated?

A: The working conditions of garment workers are precarious in Bangalore. They have to work for nine to ten hours with a break of half an hour for lunch, that's it! They are forced to complete targets of 100-120 pieces per hour, when under normal circumstances one can do just 60 pieces. Many get paid well under a living wage, yet they are expected to take care of a family of four or more! Overtime is not paid, workplace harassment and abuse are rampant and above all, workers cannot voice their opinion through unions.

Q: Do you think companies are doing enough to ensure that workers in their supply chains are paid properly and have good working conditions? What changes would you like to see made by the companies that buy these clothes?

A: Generally speaking, companies have just managed to improve the physical condition of the factory but nothing beyond that. Workers are paid the minimum wage, which is far below a living wage. Collective bargaining at the workplace is not allowed so there is no other way to increase the wages of workers from what they are getting now.

British companies should ensure that suppliers pay living wages to the workers so that they have a decent living. They should allow unionisation in the factory. This will help workers to voice their opinions and demands on various issues. Moreover, freedom to form a union is enshrined in Indian Labour Law; they should respect it.

Q: You met Sir Terry Leahy after the Tesco AGM. What was his reaction to the things you told him about the garment industry in Bangalore?

A: I told him about the deplorable condition of the garment workers in Bangalore producing for Tesco and said that with Tesco's increased profits this year he can actually give a living wage to the workers there. He replied saying, " We will look into it. A lot of research has to be done to determine the living wage. We [Tesco] want to work with the best employers in India." I wonder if it is his genuine desire to put in some effort in this direction, or if this is just one of those fake statements!

War on Want is campaigning to make sure that workers supplying big UK supermarkets get a fair deal. Time and again we’ve uncovered poverty pay, unacceptable working conditions and a lack of trade union rights in the factories that provide clothes for the UK high street. The companies that make massive profits off the back of the clothing industry have a responsibility to ensure that their suppliers treat workers fairly and that cheap clothing doesn’t come at the expense of workers’ rights.

Please join War on Want today and help us to campaign and support our partners working to improve the lives of people in sweatshops around the world. The more we can raise public awareness on this issue in the UK, the more pressure UK retailers will be under to improve the conditions of people producing their clothes.

To learn more about War on Want's campaign against sweatshops, visit their Supermarkets and Sweatshops campaign.