News and comment for December / January from CCb 103
Primark lands in hot water again for supply chain labour standards
Britain’s high street fashion giant Primark was at the centre of a storm on January 11 over allegations that illegal immigrants paid just over half the minimum wage had been employed by a supplier to make knitwear. A BBC undercover reporter found that the TNS Knitwear factory in Manchester forced people to work in cold, unsafe and cramped surroundings for less than the minimum wage, 12 hours per day, 7 days a week. Some of the employees admitted working illegally. But TNS Knitwear denies the claims. Following the BBC’s broadcasted report, a spokesman for Primark said: “The apparent practices shown in today’s BBC News broadcasts are a matter of great concern to Primark. Primark paid to have TNS Knitwear independently audited in April and December 2008. However, it did not discover all of the apparent practices portrayed by the BBC. The company is undertaking a full investigation. Primark apologises for the harm and distress to the innocent employees of both TNS and TNS’ sub-contractor Fashion Wave.” Following the request of the Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI) on the to remove all ethical branding in Primark’s shops and website, a spokesman for Primark answered on January 11: “Primark is surprised and disappointed with the public stance adopted by the ETI. The approach adopted by Primark to these sorts of issues has been welcomed in the past by the ETI.”
Contact: BBC www.bbc.co.uk
Contact: Primark www.primark.co.uk
Wal-Mart launches green jobs council
On the December 2, Wal-Mart held the inaugural meeting of the Green Jobs Council, a partnership with many of its leading sustainability suppliers to facilitate the creation of green jobs in the United States. More than 30 suppliers participated in the inaugural meeting, including large and small companies such as BP Solar, Dematic, General Electric, HydroPoint Data Systems, Lennox and Zurn. The aim for participants is to more clearly define standards for green jobs and to work collaboratively towards facilitating green job development. Top barriers identified by the group include a lack of a trained workforce and lack of access to capital, especially in the current economic environment.
Contact: Wal-Mart www.walmart.com
With further economic turbulence predicted in 2009 and unemployment forecast to rise, it is not surprising that politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are enthusiastically promoting their plans to create thousands of green jobs. Creating a green workforce appears to be a possible solution to our economic and environmental woes. As well as helping to tackle climate change it would provide a welcome boost to the economy. In reality, ‘green jobs’ is a loosely defined term. In its broadest sense, it refers to jobs that have an environmental benefit: for example, jobs in energy-efficiency and development of renewable energy, many of which require specialist or highly skilled workers. However, one area that should not be overlooked is the potential for green jobs to revitalise the manual labour and manufacturing sectors of the economy: for example, factory jobs in the production of wind turbines and solar panels. The challenge and opportunity for government and business is to ensure that green jobs are accessible to workers in traditionally lower-skilled and lower-income groups. This would help to promote wealth and employment across all sectors whilst also persuading the traditional manufacturing workforce that they too have a stake in a low-carbon economy. One of the key barriers to expanding green jobs is skills shortages. Companies can benefit from being proactive in identifying the opportunities for green jobs in their own organisations and supply chains, and from providing appropriate training and skills development programmes for their employees. Of course, employers cannot achieve this alone – Government will need to play an important role in incentivising and supporting companies in creating these jobs. Ultimately, what is required is a co-ordinated response from business, educational establishments and Government to provide our current and future workforce with new skills and ‘greening’ of existing skills to fully exploit the opportunities in a brave new ‘green’ world.
Commission announces ‘2012 Charter’ to help local businesses in East London win Olympics contracts
New research published on November 26 by the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggests the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has taken important steps to ensure East London’s diverse small businesses benefit from the procurement of goods, facilities and services ahead of the 2012 games, but more action is needed if East London is to reap the full benefits. The Commission also announced that it will develop its own 2012 Charter. Working closely with businesses in the local community and the ODA, the Commission will develop a Charter that provides guidance for those sourcing suppliers from the local community and advice for small companies to help them through the procurement process.
Contact: Equality and Human Rights Commission www.equalityhumanrights.com
Mandelson launches prompt payment code
On December 10, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson launched a new Code of Practice to help increase the speed of payments to smaller companies. It was launched at a prompt payment summit, where Lord Mandelson met representatives from some of the UK’s top companies including John Lewis Partnership, British Gas and Asda. The code, developed with the Institute of Credit Management and supported by major business organisations, aims to establish a clear and consistent policy in the payment of business to business bills by focusing on three main areas: a commitment to pay suppliers on time, to give clear guidance to supplier and to encourage good practice.
Contact: Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform www.berr.gov.uk
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