The Nestle Living Wage and Tesco food banks

Nestle, the world's largest food company, has become the first major manufacturer to say it will pay the living wage to all its staff.

The firm already pays the living wage to its 8,000 employees but Nestle says it will now extend this to its 800 contractors by the end of 2017.

In 2003, it was a fast for economic rights that drew me into the world of social enterprise. It started with an invitation for the homeless activist to join me in the UK to create a business for social benefit.

The International Convenant of Economic Social and Cultural Rights served as the policy guide in this model:

"Fifty percent of surplus will be retained by P-CED for growth and expansion. Along the way, all employees of P-CED are to be paid at minimum a wage sufficient to guarantee a decent standard of living in accordance with the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The fundamental policy guide for P-CED is the International Bill of Human Rights. IBHR is comprised of Universal Declaration of Human Rights; International Covenant of Civil and Politial Rights, and International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. P-CED’s main focus falls within sphere the economic, social and cultural rights, ICESCR."

By requiring that their supply chain conform to a Living Wage policy business can change the flow of wealth in a positive direction. Take the example of one of our suppliers in Bangladesh. If they were to adopt a living wage policy, their service would act for the greater good at a local level - an "endless wave" from consumer to manufacturer.

At the other end of the spectrum I was struck by the irony that Tesco now hosts a fooed bank collection for Trussel Trust.  It is by means of minimising costs in the supply chain that retail supermarkets are able to offer low prices at scale, which results in disproportionate wealth accumulation.  Those forced to deliver lower and lower prices will externalise their labour costs, reducing incomes to create poverty.

Is there any better illustration of scraps from the table, than a supermarket that wants its customers to give food to the needy? 

Asda/Walmart operates this model on a global scale and those campaigning for a Living Wage can illustrate how little impact it would have on price:

 

 

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