Various campaigning bodies have joined forces to launch an anti-Tesco website.
Friends of the earth campaigner Vicki Hird announced the launch of Tescopoly.org at last week's press briefing on the lesser known actions of the indomitable retailer.
The website is headed by the strapline "Every little hurts" in imitation of the supermarket's message that "Every little helps"
It features the campaign commissioned by FOE et al, demanding superior conditions for Tesco suppliers across the globe.
Delegates at the briefing, hosted by Andrew George MP heard from diverse speakers claiming to have suffered at the hands of the mogul multiple.
Didier Leiton Valverde, a Costa Rican banana trade union representative, and William Hudson, a British strawberry farmer, gave particularly impassioned tales of woe.
Hudson launched a scathing attack on Tesco for forcing its suppliers into bankruptcy, with impossibly low returns and overriders, while Valverde painted a disturbing picture of corrupt audits and employer exploitation.
Action Aid activist Julian Oram argued the responsibility for improving conditions for producers, both domestic and international, had to come from the top.
He said:"The directors of the retailers need to be accountable for the decisions they take at the board level."
George claimed contrary to recent remarks supermarkets were not the enemy but needed to be subjected to better control.
He said: "I don't think that supermarkets are beastly. They are behaving entirely rationally. The question is whether they are appropriately using or inappropriately abusing their power in the supply chain."
Vicki Hird agreed the other major retailers were equally guilty of misconduct despite Tesco receiving the brunt of the NGOs' wrath.
No comments yet