Tesco and Intertek face claims of forced labour and debt bondage at F&F fashion factory

A letter before action detailing the allegations has been sent on behalf of 130 migrant factory workers and one migrant child by law firm Leigh Day. The letter of claim is the first step in legal proceedings and notifies the defendants of the claimants’ allegations.

Tesco lawyers have responded to state that the company does not accept that the legal letter discloses any arguable claims against Tesco and does not accept that the claims should be brought in England. It says that under Thai law Tesco was not duty-bound to protect the claimants in relation to alleged negligence.

The adults, who are all vulnerable and impoverished Burmese migrants who had fled war or left Myanmar in the hope of finding safety and work in Thailand, all worked at the V.K Garments factory in Mae Sot between 2017 and 2020 in various roles including cutting, tailoring, and packing.

The workers are bringing a legal claim against Tesco PLC; Ek-Chai Distribution System Company Limited (owned by Tesco PLC until 2020); and the UK headquartered auditing companies Intertek Group PLC and Intertek Testing Services (Thailand) Limited which inspected and certified V.K. Garments’ working conditions and practices and Tesco’s F&F products.

Intertek Plc have responded and deny any liability on the basis they have no contractual relationship with Ex-Chai, VK Garments or the Claimants and that Intertek Thailand conducted audits under industry standards and by auditors pre-approved by Tesco.

Ex-Chai, Tesco’s Thai subsidiary until 2020, also denies liability primarily on the basis that they had no involvement in the employment conditions at VK Garments. 

In their legal case it is claimed that impoverished migrants were paid at most just £4 a day, working seven days a week, trapped in a cycle of forced labour and debt bondage at a V.K Garments factory in Mae Sot. Bosses controlled their migrant worker permissions and housed them in pitiful conditions where they lived in tiny dormitories and slept on cement floors with little or no privacy due to there being no locks, walls or ceilings, it is alleged.

At the factory, it is alleged that pressure to fulfil large orders for Tesco F&F suppliers was so intense that workers were often unable to take breaks to eat, drink or go to the toilet, sometimes working through the night in conditions that were hazardous, unventilated and overcrowded.

They claim they had to work from 8am to 11pm Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays were permitted to finish work at 5pm unless orders meant they had to work longer. They were given one day off a month, with no holidays. They worked in high temperatures without ventilation, PPE, training, or clean water. There was poor lighting and exposed electrical wiring.

Many of the workers suffered personal injuries as a result of these alleged unlawful working conditions and practices, with one worker having his arm sliced when he was moving heavy machinery to prepare for a planned audit and another worker being taken to hospital to be rehydrated by drip.