Actress supports women workers’ appeal

MAJOR companies and retailers in the fashion and food industries are forcing down employment conditions for millions of women workers around the globe, the international aid agency Oxfam said yesterday.

A new report launched by the agency and supported by British actress Minnie Driver in Cambodia, where the garment industry is a major employer, found big business’s relentless pursuit of cheaper products is leading to worsening conditions for millions of workers in poor countries.

“There is a widening gap between the rhetoric of global corporate social responsibility and the reality of the corporate business model,” said Oxfam’s Phil Bloomer. “Many corporations have codes of conduct to hold their suppliers accountable for labour standards but their own ruthless buying strategies often make it impossible for these standards to be met.”

Ms Driver, who has spent several days meeting workers, said she was sending an “impassioned plea to the heads of large corporations to consider their buying practices”.

“Every time they squeeze to get lower production costs, faster production, it’s nobody but the working women who suffer and so do their families back at home,” she said. “The poorest people with the least are making the sacrifices for those of us who have the most.”