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Tesco recruits cheap Eastern European workers over British staff, Labour says in attack on 'unscrupulous employers'
PUBLISHED: 09:17 GMT, 11 August 2013 | UPDATED: 09:17 GMT, 11 August 2013
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Labour will accuse supermarket giant Tesco of recruiting cheap workers from Eastern Europe over British staff in a speech attacking 'unscrupulous employers.'
Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant will criticise companies who he claims 'seem to deliberately exclude British people'.
Tesco and Next, who together employ more than 350,000 people in the UK, are both named in the speech.
Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant will accuse Tesco of moving distribution centre to Kent where 'large percentage' of staff are from the eastern bloc but supermarket denies having centre in the county
He will claim Tesco moved its distribution centre to Kent where a 'large percentage' of the staff are from the eastern bloc, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
But the supermarket denied having a distribution centre in the county and it is understood the firm will write to Labour to complain about the 'unfair' attack.
More...
According to extracts of tomorrow's speech reported in The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Bryant will acknowledge that immigration can have a negative effect on labour markets.
He will say: 'The biggest complaint I have heard, from migrants and settled communities alike, is about the negative effects migration can have on the UK labour market. And I agree.
'It is unfair that unscrupulous employers whose only interest seems to be finding labour as cheaply as possible will recruit workers in large numbers in low-wage countries in the EU, bring them to the UK, charge the costs of their travel and their substandard accommodation against their wages and still not even meet the national minimum wage.
'That is unfair. It exploits migrant workers and it makes it impossible for settled workers with mortgages and a family to support at British prices to compete.'
In his speech, which as well as targeting Tesco also contains criticism of high street chain Next, Mr Bryant will make it clear that that neither firm has broken the law.
Mr Bryant will name Tesco and Next in the speech in which he will attack 'unscrupulous employers'
Mr Bryant plans to say: 'Take the case of Tesco, who recently decided to move their distribution centre in Kent.
'The new centre is larger and employs more people, but the staff at original site, most of them British, were told that they could only move to the new centre if they took a cut in pay.
'The result? A large percentage of the staff at the new centre are from [the] Eastern bloc.'
Tesco said it had recruited 350 local people to work in its distribution centre in Dagenham, which is in the east London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and was formerly in Essex, not Kent.
A spokesman said: 'It is wrong to accuse Tesco of this. We work incredibly hard to recruit from the local area, and have just recruited 350 local people to work in our Dagenham site.'
Mr Bryant will accuse Next of printing leaflets in Polish to attract workers from the country.
Extracts from his speech say: 'Look at Next Plc, who last year brought 500 Polish workers to work in their South Elmsall [West Yorkshire] warehouse for their summer sale and another 300 this summer.
'They were recruited in Poland and charged £50 to find them accommodation.
'The advantage to Next? They get to avoid Agency Workers Regulations, which apply after a candidate has been employed for over 12 weeks, so Polish temps end up considerably cheaper than the local workforce, which includes many former Next employees.'
A spokesman for the retailer told The Sunday Telegraph: 'Without access to the facts, it is difficult to comment on what Mr Bryant is claiming. On the face of it, his allegations seem unlikely.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ack-unscrupulous-employers.html#ixzz2bf5XCkhY
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- Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant to make speech tomorrow
- Will claim Tesco moved distribution centre to Kent where 'large percentage' of staff are from eastern bloc
- Tesco denies accusations and will write to Labour over 'unfair' attack
- Bryant to accuse Next of printing leaflets in Polish to attract workers
PUBLISHED: 09:17 GMT, 11 August 2013 | UPDATED: 09:17 GMT, 11 August 2013
120
View
comments
Labour will accuse supermarket giant Tesco of recruiting cheap workers from Eastern Europe over British staff in a speech attacking 'unscrupulous employers.'
Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant will criticise companies who he claims 'seem to deliberately exclude British people'.
Tesco and Next, who together employ more than 350,000 people in the UK, are both named in the speech.
He will claim Tesco moved its distribution centre to Kent where a 'large percentage' of the staff are from the eastern bloc, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
But the supermarket denied having a distribution centre in the county and it is understood the firm will write to Labour to complain about the 'unfair' attack.
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According to extracts of tomorrow's speech reported in The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Bryant will acknowledge that immigration can have a negative effect on labour markets.
He will say: 'The biggest complaint I have heard, from migrants and settled communities alike, is about the negative effects migration can have on the UK labour market. And I agree.
'It is unfair that unscrupulous employers whose only interest seems to be finding labour as cheaply as possible will recruit workers in large numbers in low-wage countries in the EU, bring them to the UK, charge the costs of their travel and their substandard accommodation against their wages and still not even meet the national minimum wage.
'That is unfair. It exploits migrant workers and it makes it impossible for settled workers with mortgages and a family to support at British prices to compete.'
In his speech, which as well as targeting Tesco also contains criticism of high street chain Next, Mr Bryant will make it clear that that neither firm has broken the law.
Mr Bryant plans to say: 'Take the case of Tesco, who recently decided to move their distribution centre in Kent.
'The new centre is larger and employs more people, but the staff at original site, most of them British, were told that they could only move to the new centre if they took a cut in pay.
'The result? A large percentage of the staff at the new centre are from [the] Eastern bloc.'
Tesco said it had recruited 350 local people to work in its distribution centre in Dagenham, which is in the east London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and was formerly in Essex, not Kent.
A spokesman said: 'It is wrong to accuse Tesco of this. We work incredibly hard to recruit from the local area, and have just recruited 350 local people to work in our Dagenham site.'
Mr Bryant will accuse Next of printing leaflets in Polish to attract workers from the country.
Extracts from his speech say: 'Look at Next Plc, who last year brought 500 Polish workers to work in their South Elmsall [West Yorkshire] warehouse for their summer sale and another 300 this summer.
'They were recruited in Poland and charged £50 to find them accommodation.
'The advantage to Next? They get to avoid Agency Workers Regulations, which apply after a candidate has been employed for over 12 weeks, so Polish temps end up considerably cheaper than the local workforce, which includes many former Next employees.'
A spokesman for the retailer told The Sunday Telegraph: 'Without access to the facts, it is difficult to comment on what Mr Bryant is claiming. On the face of it, his allegations seem unlikely.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ack-unscrupulous-employers.html#ixzz2bf5XCkhY
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
