It seems that Tesco finally bowed to public pressure and is no longer expecting the jobless to line-up and provide them with four weeks of unpaid labour. Whilst I was pleased to read this, it was too little, too late for me. Do Tesco expect us to be pleased that they’re finally offering to pay people in return for their hard work?
This has taught us an awful lot about Tesco’s ethical beliefs. The company was happy to accept unpaid labour before the public knew about it, but as soon as they started receiving negative press coverage, they brought the scheme to a hasty close. Surely if they can afford to pay workers now, then they could’ve afforded to pay them before this hit the media?
I equally horrified when Chris Grayling claimed that Tesco were offering a “public service.” Would it still be a public service if I advertised for a person to spend 4 weeks cleaning my house and emptying the cat’s litter tray? They’d be gaining cleaning experience! Additionally, I wonder if Tesco offered placements in their accounts department, HR department, management, or any of those other areas that are notoriously difficult to gain work in. Or was it just the shop-floor?
