UNISON calls for action on exploitation in supply chains
Investors of the Australian medical rubber glove manufacturing company, Ansell, are being urged to “help change the corporate culture of worker exploitation” in workplaces in Sri Lanka. Ahead of Ansell’s AGM last month, the UK’s UNISON public services union general secretary, Christina McAnea, signed a joint letter with Anton Marcus, joint secretary of the FTZ&GSEU free trade zone and general services union in Sri Lanka.
UNISON says workers are being denied their right to form and join trade unions of their choice and to collectively bargain.
As well as underpayment of overtime, the union leaders say Ansell refuses to pay the wages of workers with underlying health conditions who cannot work during the pandemic. Concerns on the factory floor include the absence of social distancing.
UNISON told investors that workers using medical gloves which they know are tainted with “dreadful exploitation and labour rights breaches” causes additional distress to NHS members and others in health and social care.
The union is also campaigning for a new UK law holding companies and the public sector accountable when they fail to prevent human rights abuses and environmental damage in their business operations, including their supply chains.