John Hilary, September 4, 2007, Guardian Unlimited, Last December Tesco, Asda and Primark were named and shamed by War on Want for exploiting garment workers in their quest for ever cheaper clothes to sell to bargain-hungry British shoppers.

The Guardian followed up with further evidence six months later. Asda acknowledged privately that there was a widespread problem in their supplier factories. Through gritted teeth Tesco agreed that terms and conditions often fell far short of what was fair. However, as the Guardian's new inquiry reveals, the exploitation of garment workers is now a systemic problem right across the high street. While the budget retailers may be leading the race to the bottom, companies such as Mothercare, H&M, Marks & Spencer and Gap now stand beside them in the dock. British bargains come at the expense of workers' rights in developing countries, just as our years of low inflation are founded upon their years of low wages.

It would be wrong to point the finger solely at UK retailers. Governments in the host economies of the developing world establish the laws and regulations that determine workers' rights and set minimum wages. Factory owners are responsible at a local level for the pay and conditions their workers receive. However, all the evidence shows it is the multi-billion retailers that hold the whip hand.

Recognizing their influence over the supply chain, a large number of UK retailers have signed up to the Ethical Trading Initiative, a multi-stakeholder initiative to improve working conditions around the world. While the ETI has brought some benefits to workers, the retailers have failed in the central objective of delivering a "living wage" which would enable workers to escape poverty.

A key reason given by retailers for this failure to pay a living wage is not that they can't afford it but that they can't agree on what it should be. Strangely, this does not seem to be a problem at the other end of the pay scale, where we learned last week that UK company directors have been awarded an inflation-busting 37% increase over the past year. The average CEO salary in the UK is now around £2.9 million, compared to the 13p an hour paid to Indian workers in the Guardian report.

What these inequalities highlight is the total failure of the market to address the exploitation of workers who supply UK retailers. Voluntary initiatives to enhance corporate social responsibility are similarly ineffective. What is needed is decisive action from the UK government to address the abuses of British retailers from this end, once and for all.

Nor is it beyond Gordon Brown to grasp this nettle. Despite his enthusiasm for the market, the prime minister is also well aware of its shortcomings, most notably its inability to address such issues as workers' rights. Moreover, Brown's much-vaunted commitment to the cause of "making poverty history" requires him to take action on this central question of social justice. Decent jobs offer people in developing countries their best chance to work their way out of poverty, while exploitation leaves them mired in misery.

Brown will soon have an opportunity to act when the Competition Commission reports the findings of its current inquiry into the groceries market. One easy step would be for the prime minister to appoint an independent regulator to oversee and enforce the existing supermarket code of practice. However, to ensure genuine corporate accountability, the government must make UK retailers liable for abuses in their supply chains. Why shouldn't workers across the world have the right to seek redress in British courts for wrongs done them by UK plc?

http://www.ukwatch.net/article/cleaning_up_the_high_street