10 April 2005

When Fair Trade shouldn't be optional

Tesco's are getting stick from Action Aid in a recent report on the working pay and conditions of pickers in their supply chain. Tesco is signed up to making sure its supply chain is good for labour, so it is of concern to discover it isn't working as it should. "'We are concerned that the growth of supermarkets in developing countries is really undermining the fight against poverty,' said Dominic Eagleton, policy researcher for ActionAid. 'Increasing their market power has managed to drain the wealth from farming communities and marginalised small-scale producers.'"

The article points out that the UN is looking into how to deal with monopolistic /oligopolistic behaviour by TNC's, it seems we need to encourage our government to support it -presumably after the election.
The Observer | UK News | Tesco in row over foreign workers:

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"Spend and tax" not "tax and spend"

 I got a response from my MP which got me kind of mad. You'll see why as I reproduce it here. Apologies for the strange changes in types...