"Supermarkets, transnational supply chains and labour rights' abuses", 27 November 2017

A report in 2016 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) looked inside the global supply chains of 50 multinational companies. According to the findings, some of the companies using most hidden workforce are retail chains and supermarkets like Walmart, Carrefour, Tesco or Seven & I, the Japanese company that owned 7-Eleven. The biggest is Walmart with 10 million hidden workers over the registered 2,2 million workers worldwide. Having hidden workforce means that companies can dodge compliance with national and international labour laws, minimum wages, pensions and job security regulations. In many of these transnational supply chains, human rights abuses, like unpaid extra working hours, unattainable mandatory daily or hourly output quotas, forbidding the use of toilets, locking in workers, physical punishment, sexual abuse, anti-union measures and threats, are routine. ...For example, 7-Eleven convenience stores have been the scene of numerous violations of labour rights. ...Farmers are also directly hit by the expansion of transnational supply chains. ...[F]armers face fewer options for where to sell and have to deal with buyers who have more muscle to impose their conditions, including lower prices.

See ITUC report here.

*Sourced by RepRisk due diligence on ESG and business conduct risks, www.reprisk.com.