Grocery giant Tesco and inspection specialist Intertek are facing a lawsuit over employment conditions for workers making clothing in Thailand, it emerged on Monday.
Allegations that migrant workers in Thailand were working 99 hours per week on illegally low pay while making jeans and other denim garments for Tesco’s F&F brand were first reported in the Guardian.
It was claimed that workers from Myanmar were paid less than £4 per day and worked seven days per week at the VK Garment Factory near the Thailand-Myanmar border between 2017 and 2020.
Tesco completed the sale of its Malaysian and Thai business in December 2020, offloading its portfolio of supermarkets and shopping centres to the Bangkok-traded CP All, which now operates it under the Lotus’s brand.
UK law firm Leigh Day launched the legal case on Monday, alleging that illegal treatment of migrant workers was not identified, despite both Tesco and Intertek auditing the factory.
It said the employees claimed they were made to work from 8am to 11pm Monday to Saturday, and until 5pm on Sunday unless there was an influx of orders.
The workers also claimed that the factory bosses were in control of their migrant worker permits, and had them sleeping on concrete floors with no walls, ceilings or locks on spaces.
Tesco said it was not involved in the day-to-day operation of VK Garment Factory, but a spokesperson said protecting the rights of everyone involved in its supply chain was seen as “absolutely essential” to the business.
“In order to uphold our stringent human rights standards, we have a robust auditing process in place across our supply chain and the communities where we operate,” the spokesperson said.
“Any risk of human rights abuses is completely unacceptable, but, on the very rare occasions where they are identified, we take great care to ensure they are dealt with appropriately, and that workers have their human rights and freedoms respected.
“The allegations highlighted in this report are incredibly serious, and, had we identified issues like this at the time they took place, we would have ended our relationship with this supplier immediately.”
Tesco said it understood the Labour Court in Thailand had awarded compensation to the workers, adding that it “urged” the supplier to reimburse employees for any owed wages.
For its part, Intertek said it was taking the matters raised seriously.
“We also note these matters are currently the subject of Thai and English legal proceedings, and therefore we are not able to comment while these proceedings are ongoing,” a spokesperson for the company said.
At 1320 GMT, shares in Tesco were up 0.94% at 224.4p, while those in Intertek Group were 0.13% firmer at 1,948p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
