Trade union Unite has called on newly instated supermarket ombudsperson Christine Tacon to launch a probe into major supermarkets' relationships with their suppliers and the pressure they exert to drive down labour costs.  

As supermarket adjudicator, Ms Tacon will police the grocery supply chain, enforcing the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, which regulates interactions between the ten largest supermarkets with an annual turnover of £1bn and their direct suppliers.

Farming unions including the NFU have previously collected evidence of ways in which supermarkets abuse their power in the supply chain to pass excessive business risks and costs onto their suppliers, however, Unite this week suggested major retailers could be using their influence to undermine labour laws in the UK.

The Union, as part of its drive to retain the Agricultural Wages Board which sets pay rates and conditions for workers in England and Wales, has written to the recently appointed adjudicator asking her to investigate four aspects of the supermarket bosses' relationships with farmers and growers.

Unite suggested on Monday (4th February) that a number of major supermarkets may be supporting government plans to abolish the AWB, which the union claims would drive down workers' wages "to poverty levels… as a result" and potentially increase supermarkets' profits.

Unite suggested four areas of focus for the probe:

-    the relationship between supermarkets, their suppliers, and the pay and conditions of workers employed by those suppliers;
 
-    the links between supermarket pricing regimes and the abolition of the AWB, including analysis by respondents to the government's consultation on AWB abolition that unfair prices paid by supermarkets are leading suppliers to look for profits by cutting workers' pay;

-    supermarkets' ethical codes of responsibility which should be reviewed in light of what is happening to the AWB;

-    a food and farming system that is fit for the future should have fair treatment for its workers at its heart.

Unite national officer for rural and agriculture, Julia Long commented on Monday, "This is the first big test for Christine Tacon and will reveal if the new ombudsman has real teeth to right injustices and inequalities in the major supermarkets’ relationships with their suppliers which, in turn, impacts, currently adversely, on those working on the land."