Calling notice: Unite union inside and outside Tesco's AGM in
Glasgow
2nd July 2009
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.”
Ian Greenwood, chair of the pensions committee of West Yorkshire
Pension Fund said: "Tesco is an outstanding company which is
brilliantly managed and run, with good labour relations and
policies in the UK. In those circumstances, what we are asking is
that those standards apply to the rest of their supply chain to the
best of their ability."
ENDS
For further information contact and to arrange interviews with
deputy general secretary, Jack Dromey, on the day contact: Shaun
Noble on 07768 693 940 or Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315
Notes to editors:
Download the Requisition for
resolution at Tesco plc AGM 2009 (pdf format).
Email to a friend
