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Demand the UK government protect the rights of tea workers

A Bitter Cup, a new report from War on Want, documents the poor working conditions and poverty pay of tea workers in Kenya and India producing tea for supermarkets in the UK.

Take action today by writing Secretary of State Ken Clarke to demand the government set up a Commission for Business, Human Rights and the Environment that would make UK companies accountable for human rights abuses in their supply chains.

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Dear Secretary of State,

I am writing to you to inform you about War on Want’s latest report, A Bitter Cup. The report documents the poor working conditions and poverty pay of tea workers in Kenya and India producing tea for supermarkets in the UK.

The report, based on interviews with tea workers, finds that workers in Kenya and India earn less than half of a living wage, face unsafe working conditions and are denied access to trade unions in tea plantations and factories. This exploitation of workers is occurring while British supermarkets are making huge profits.

These supermarkets have signed up to voluntary codes that promise to treat workers ethically in their overseas supply chains, but have failed to use their influence to improve the lives of those who make their products. It is clear that voluntary mechanisms have not worked and we need government to hold UK companies to account.

I am writing to ask that the government set up a Commission for Business, Human Rights and the Environment that would make UK companies accountable for human rights abuses in their supply chains. Such a commission has been endorsed by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in its investigation into business and human rights. It would have the authority to investigate the abuse of workers overseas and allow them to seek redress in the UK when they suffer from exploitative buying practices. To find out more about this proposal, please visit the Corporate Responsibility (CORE) Coalition’s website.

War on Want’s latest report provides just one example of how workers in overseas supply chains are squeezed to boost corporate profits. Please bring forward legislation now to introduce this Commission and help to end these abuses.

Yours sincerely

Tags: campaigns | supermarkets & sweatshops | tea