Unite union protestors waving flags and wearing brightly coloured “Every Worker Counts” t-shirts, will protest outside the Tesco AGM this Friday, 3rd July.
Date: Friday 3rd July
Time:9.00 – 10.30am
Venue: SECC, Exhibition Way, Finnieston, Glasgow, G3 8YW, next to main entrance (East doors)
In a first for a British trade union, Unite the union, will table a resolution (see notes to editors) at Tesco’s AGM. The resolution calls for action to end the exploitation and discrimination of workers employed by companies in the UK and Ireland that supply meat to Tesco.
Unite protestors will be out in full force brandishing flags and placards to ensure shareholders hear the voice of workers employed by companies that supply meat to Tesco stores. Unite members with shares in Tesco will also question Terry Leahy from the floor of the AGM.
Unite believes the issues highlighted by the resolution represent a systematic failure by Tesco either to anticipate or properly manage its exposure to brand, reputational and political risks.
The resolution is part of an ongoing campaign by Unite to improve the treatment of workers, including agency workers, in the UK supermarket supply chain.
The union has presented Tesco with evidence that some workers in its UK supply chain are experiencing harsh and divisive conditions that, in some cases, are abusive. So far Tesco has failed to act.
Unite believes that structural discrimination exists in many parts of the supply chain that provides meat to Tesco with agency workers, overwhelmingly migrant, on poorer conditions of employment, undercutting indigenous workers. That divides workplaces, Unite says, and damages community social cohesion.
The requisition of the resolution was endorsed by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) which holds 15,584,965 shares in Tesco. WYPF is one of the UK’s leading local authority pension funds and has over 211,000 members and beneficiaries, employed by 184 separate organisations, with assets of £7,271 million as at March 2008.
PIRC (Pensions Investments Research Council) has recommended to its clients that they support Unite’s resolution. The value of the assets advised by PIRC are circa £1.5 trillion. PIRC provides services to institutional investors on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. PIRC has a wide spectrum of clients ranging from pension funds, faith-based investors, trade unions to banks and asset managers. Its Corporate Governance Service is an authoritative and vital resource for active investors.
The resolution is also supported by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, which represents 1.3 million members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
As an indication of the seriousness of Unite’s claims, the powerful Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is conducting its first statutory inquiry into the UK’s multi-billion pound meat industry in England and Wales for evidence of employment abuse and discrimination.
Unite deputy general secretary, Jack Dromey, said: “Unite will be outside the Tesco AGM protesting, but we’ll also be inside the AGM calling for action. This is a first for a British union. Our resolution will be heard no matter what.
“The exploitation of migrant agency workers – and undercutting of indigenous workers – divides workplaces, damages community social cohesion and fuels racism. We have organised all workers around fair and equal treatment of all workers. Now we take their cause to the AGM of Tesco shareholders, holding Terry Leahy to account.
“Tesco, with Unite, jointly commissioned an independent report proving a two-tier labour market in their supply chain. The company then walked away from the table. We tried and failed to engage. The company is not interested. Now, the evidence of structural discrimination is so strong that the independent EHRC is conducting its first statutory inquiry.
“Tesco leads in size but lags behind competitor supermarkets which are accepting their responsibilities. The meat industry will forever be scarred by exploitation, undercutting and discrimination if the dominant player washes its hands of responsibility.”
July 7th, 2009 at 5:03 am
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