Sharholder power - ethics forced onto the agenda at Tesco

Hell yeah! A small shareholder at Tesco (also a primary from War on Want) has amassed enough support among fellow shareholders that they have forced Tesco to address problems within their supply chain of low wages, poor working conditions and job insecurity.
From the Guardian

Only 1/4 of 'money savers' would boycott child labour

In a poll on the site 'Money Saving Expert' only around a 1/4 of money savers said they would boycott a cheap clothing retailer if it was shown they used child labour to manufacture their products

I'd rather not have it than knowingly ignore the truth of where it came from.

Taken from the Labour Behind the Label website, info on high street stores and how they fair:

We wrote to all the major high street retailers and all members of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). On the basis of the information gathered for this report, we put the companies into five groups, based on how well they were able to respond to the questions we asked.
1.Non-responders
These companies make no information available to consumers on their websites, and did not respond to our enquiries in any meaningful way. We are concerned that this lack of transparency indicates a lack of engagement. Includes: Bhs*, Diesel, House
of Fraser, Kookai, Mothercare, Marshalls, Monsoon Accessorize, Moss Bros, Peacocks/Bon Marche*, River Island, Ted Baker.
2.Dragging their feet
Responses from this group indicate scant effort to tackle workers' rights issues. They have not participated in collaborative efforts to develop best practice, in particular the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), and it shows from their responses. Includes: Arcadia (Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, etc), French Connection, Jigsaw/Kew, Laura Ashley, Matalan, Mosaic Group (Oasis, Karen
Millen, etc), Primark, Principles.
3.Resting on their laurels
While these companies have previously taken some steps to address working conditions, including joining the ETI, their responses and case histories suggest that they are more interested in ticking the right boxes to stave off criticism than they are in achieving actual results for their workers. By and large they don't seem to accept the seriousness of problems regarding wages and freedom of association. Includes: Asda, Debenhams, Sainsbury's, Madison Hosiery, Pentland.
4.Could do better
These companies gave us mixed responses, which indicated some consideration and decent steps in some areas, but didn't deal substantively with others or were too vague to be sure about. Includes: John Lewis, H&M, Levi Strauss & Co, M&S, New Look, Tesco, TK Maxx, Zara.
5.Pulling ahead
From their responses and case studies, these companies are further along than others. While they still have a long way to go, they seem to be engaging more seriously with the issues we raised. Includes: Gap, Next.

For a guide to ethical clothing check out Labour Behind the Label

Subtext: issue 3 out now!

Apologies for the recent radio scilence.

Good news though, Subtext issue 3 is now on sale!
And on time! With double proof read text and (fingers crossed) all but titchy mistakes eliminated.
Plus, we've got badges too!

Back to reality

Me on a camel, with a baby goat.
As if just sitting on a camel wasn't hard enough on it's own.

Back from Morocco (very nice, warm, sunny) to reality and stomach flu.
Oh how I wish I could escape.

There is a Zounds song, one of the lines is:

"I'm not looking for escapism,
I just want to escape"

My boyfriend says I can't claim this as a little mantra because it makes me sound like a junkie living in a hovel, and that my life isn't bad. He is right, but that line rang a chord with me from the very first time I heard it years ago.

[spacey voice]It has so many meanings man...[/spacey voice]

I think I am experiencing some chronic post-holiday blues. Nothing has felt right since I've been back. I have no motivation, anxiety, lethargy. I want to spend my days holled up sulking.

Such is life, times like these prompt me to change my situation, do something new.

I thought about trying to get an apprentiship as a blacksmith this morning.
Blacksmithery doesn't pay very well according to learn direct.

Lke most people I don't want to work, I want to fanny around, ride my bike, make things, bake muffins (which I planned to do today, as well as tidy the house, write some stuff for the magazine and make falafel. It is 4pm already!)

At least the sun is shining today. Landing in Birmingham to BLIZZARDS OF SNOW after glorious sun in Morocco did not do it for me.

Wimbeldon women win equality

Male and female competitors to receive same rewards for first time ever the guardian reports.
Coo-el.

Suck on that Andy Murray.

Lazy as a marmaset's arse

I don't know if that's how you spell marmaset, and I'm too lazy to check. I'm too lazy to write, too. For someone who professes to love writing, I don't actually write that much. I have ideas in my head, developed, ridiculous, readable ideas - but they're staying there where it's safe and warm and no one actually gets to see them.

I want to set up a copywriting business. I have already done the fun bits of designing the website and writing the copy for the (most) of the website. The not so fun bits are yet to be tackled. Finishing the website, trying to drum up business etc.

There are many more winges of the lazy that I could bore you with, but I'll spare you that at least. Maybe one day I will write all those things I thought I'd write, and then you could read them. I've still not written the article of feminism and capitalism I promised you so very long ago (like, 2 years ago!).

You spell it marmoset. I checked it, but it would mean my whole intro would be shot through if I changed it.

In training / whoop

I'm officially in training for my trip to Skye in April. I will have to walk up big hills, I think they're classified as mountains they're so big. Today I took the stairs from the ground to the seventh floor. My legs ached and I was a bit out of breath. More training required.

Before then though, I' going to Morocco! I am fully excited about this. Not only is it my first hot sunny beachy holiday for two years, but it's a girls holiday. I'm going with Jess, assistant editor of Subtext, drinker, punk band drummer, kariokie singer (I've never seen her sing kariokie but I can totally imagine her doing it) and fun to be around bad influence.

I am going to have to be so good - we're somehow affording to go all inclusive, so that pretty much equals free alcohol and cake all the time.

The above reads like I'm some kind of richy-rich jet setter. Believe me, this blog should be renamed 'budget travelling punk'.

Tiny baby, big decisions

There's an article in the Guardian online today about tiny baby Amellia who was born by cesarean at 22 weeks (making her about 17-18 weeks premature).

I expect her survival to have a big impact on abortion laws, both here and in the USA, because she lived despite being under the age considered 'viable' in the USA (23 weeks), and under the 24 weeks abortion limit in the UK.

It's brilliant news that this baby survived, and I can understand why a desperate mother would lie to doctors about her baby's age. However it is concerning that this may have a detrimental impact of a woman's right to abortion if she past 22 weeks. I can imagine the question will be 'if babies can be kept alive by medicine after 22 weeks then should the age of viability be lowered?'

Comments in the article from another mother who's premature baby survived via medical intervention suggests that each case should be considered individually, rather than a 'catch all' rule being enforced. I hope if this is adopted for premature babies that they see fit to give women who choose not to have children the same respect and considered their cases individually rather than applying a catch all rule after the normal cut off point for abortions.

Who would be a medical ethicist? Stressful much.

Animal rights is a racy business, promise

PETA, who are you trying to speak to exactly? Your 'latest and raciest' ad campaign certainly doesn't appeal to me. Are the big fur wearers all Nuts readers?

Maybe not, since they paid for this ad to be on the blog 'Go Fug Yourself'. I'm guessing that website has a majority audience of bored women.
How pervy does the bit in brackets sound "yeah, she looked so good we couldn't choose just one". Lord.

What is it with everyone? UPDATED

Britney shaves her hair off - the media reports she is loosing her mind.
In and of itself, shaving your head does not mean you are going mad - it means you wanted to shave your head. Britney choosing to see the back of her long blonde extensions, reportedly hanging off just a couple of centimeters of her own hair seems pretty understandable to me.

There's an summary of shaven heads in among celebrity women on the Guardian website that's quite interesting - basically concluding there are many different reasons to shave ones head.

The main reasons for the furore seems to be, as picked up by the journalist for the Guardian, that the renunciation of traditional femeninity associated with a bald head can still shock people.

UPDATED: to add a link to a BBC story about Britney, there are some great encouraging comments from both women and men who think that it is not the 'break down' the media are protraying it as. There are also comments from short and skin head women who rock their look and wonder why there's such a fuss.

This is the most I have ever blogged about Britney. Someone who works for her is a pr whiz, everyone is talking about this!