In a factory at the Myanmar border in Thailand, hundreds of Burmese workers made F&F jeans for Tesco. They describe sweatshop conditions, with 99-hour weeks, one day off a month and illegally low pay. Now Tesco is facing a landmark British lawsuit for alleged negligence, having used the VK Garment (VKG) factory in Mae Sot as a supplier to its Thai business from 2017 until the supermarket sold its operations in Asia in December 2020. The case is being brought by 130 former garment workers at the factory. Tesco said protecting the rights of everyone in its supply chain was absolutely essential and that had it known of the serious allegations it would have stopped using VKG immediately. It is believed to be the first time a UK company has been threatened with litigation in the English courts over a foreign garment factory in its supply chain that it does not own. Tesco was not involved in the day-to-day running of the factory beyond setting and checking standards and placing orders. Tesco made £2.2bn profits in 2020, the last year that its Thai business used VKG. Labour experts say large clothing brands such as F&F deliberately outsource the production of clothes and the auditing of factories to avoid liability and reputational damage while keeping prices cheap and protecting profits.
