Tesco is being targeted by one of the US’s largest unions, which today launched a campaign on the grocer’s home soil to highlight its staunch anti-union stance in the US.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union’s (UFCW) campaign, The Two Faces of Tesco, aims to draw attention to how Tesco’s close relationship with UK unions – in particular, Usdaw – has not been replicated over the pond, following the launch of the supermarket’s Fresh & Easy format.
UFCW campaigns director Emily Stewart said: “Tesco has a great reputation for employment rights and corporate responsibility in the UK, but this is sullied by its behaviour in the US.”
The union has not spelled out any specific demands, saying it simply wants to enter into a dialogue with the retailer.
The highlighting of the union’s concerns in the UK follows more than two years of attempts by UFCW to engage Tesco in talks. The two are yet to have a face-to-face meeting.
Stewart said: “We’re launching the campaign here in Tesco’s backyard, where its reputation is most precious to it.”
The campaign has received personal backing from both Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama in the US.
It is also backed by Labour MP Jon Cruddas in the UK. Cruddas said: “It’s quite shocking for one of the UK’s leading companies. Especially one that seems to take the high ground on CSR issues.”
Cruddas said he will write to Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy and highlight the problem to fellow labour MPs.
Campaigners say membership of a union in the US guarantees a living wage and job security, as well as access to affordable healthcare and mortgages. The UFCW has 1.3 million members in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico, mostly in the groceries and meatpacking/food processing divisions.
No comment was available from Tesco.
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