ACTION AID - BY GEORGE

Campaign group Action Aid has targeted Asda stores this week in an effort to highlight the Walmart-owned chain’s appalling record of exploiting sweatshop labour in Asia.

Actions have taken place in major cities up and down the country; campaigners have been putting secret messages into the pockets of Asda clothing describing the corporation’s treatment of their garment workers, as well as collecting 2p from Asda shoppers as they enter the store. This amount is calculated as how much Asda would need to raise its price on a £4 t-shirt to guarantee their workers earn enough to feed, clothe and educate their families (assuming they gave that 2p to the workers of course). A small price when you consider the £45 million profit each day that the Walmart group makes.

Anyone who finds a secret message in the garment they’ve bought can send it to Action Aid to claim a campaign t-shirt and enter a prize draw for other ethical clothing items. They will also be invited to send a letter to Asda bosses demanding fair treatment for workers making Asda clothes.

The group have promised to continue with their campaign every month until Asda increases the wages of overseas workers. Action Aid claims that even Asda’s own surveys demonstrate that their workers aren’t paid enough to sustain themselves or their families. They have formed a coalition with Asia Floor Wage ( a group dedicated to improving pay conditions for garment workers across Asia) to persuade Asda to re-evaluate their pay structures.

At the moment, Asda pays its factory employees in Bangladesh an average of £6.70 in a working week of 48 hours. Asia Floor Wage calculates the basic living wage needed in Bangladesh at £25.90 a week. This could easily be achieved through tiny increases of final retail prices but it seems that profit-greedy capitalists at the top simply prefer their workforces to live in poverty.

While some high street retailers have promised to meet more ‘ethical’ targets by 2015, Asda still lags far behind other retail chains - even Primark we wonder? - in both word and action.

* See www.actionaid.org.uk to find out more about the campaign.