London Underground (LU) has taken the unprecedented step of becoming the first public body to join the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) - an alliance of retailers, unions and charities committed to improving workers' conditions in supplier factories.
LU issues about 300,000 items of uniform a year to its 12,000 staff, much of it made in the Far East and Eastern Europe. Companies supplying LU clothing will now have to demonstrate their efforts towards complying with a set of stringent standards covering health and safety, wages, discrimination and other labour issues.
The standards were drawn up by the Ethical Trading Initiative, which LU is joining as a full corporate member.
Peter Zuk, LU Chief Programmes Officer said: "This is great news for London Underground staff, our passengers and suppliers. By becoming the UK's first public sector organisation to join the Ethical Trading Initiative, we can demonstrate our commitment to ethical sourcing.
"LU has always strived to ensure that there is respect and fairness for employees at its uniform supplier factories. ETI provides the perfect forum for us to join forces with others to tackle poor working conditions worldwide. We hope other public sector bodies will follow our lead."
The chair of ETI, Alan Roberts, said: "LU's decision to join us is a milestone for ethical trade. Let's hope it will blaze a trail for other public sector bodies to sign up."
