New ECCR report reveals the down-side of flexible labour

­May 2009  

Migrant workers fill many agency, seasonal and temporary jobs in the UK and Ireland. But, according to a new report published by the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR), they remain vulnerable to very low pay, over-long hours, poor health and safety conditions, workplace discrimination and other forms of injustice.

ECCR's report - ­Vulne­rable Migrant Workers: The Responsibility of Business - reveals the vulnerability of migrant workers in areas of the domestic economy where low-skilled flexible labour is concentrated: care, cleaning, construction, hospitality and catering, and food production, manufacturing and retail.

The report compares the policies and practices of nine food production, ­manufacturing and supermarket c­ompanies towards migrant workers, particularly in their supply chains. Companies in the survey include Associated British Foods, Kerry Group, Morrisons, Northern Foods, ­Sainsbury's, Tesco and Unilever ...­

[News release] (pdf)

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