5th April 2023
Ethical Consumer is investigating the labour rights of those employed in supermarket supply chains.
“Eight out of nine basic workers’ rights are being routinely violated in UK supermarket supply chains in Spain, our new report reveals. All major UK supermarkets are likely to source large amounts of fruit and vegetables from the Spanish regions of Huelva and Almeria, where workers’ rights abuses are widespread. Workers have been refused legal wages, sexually assaulted and harassed, fired for trying to join unions, made to work in unsafe conditions, had passports confiscated so they can’t leave, and been penalised for taking toilet breaks. Most workers are migrants.
UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier de Schutter, describes working conditions in the region as “horrific” and “inhumane”. He says, “I urge supermarkets to end their complicity in this abuse and address the issue head-on, using this report as their guide.””
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