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Unilever makes suppliers pay a living wage

Unilever
Unilever

Unilever will force its tens of thousands of suppliers to pay their staff a living wage as part of a new range of commitments that is expected to impact millions of workers globally.

The maker of Marmite and Dove soap said by 2030, it will require that anyone who directly provides goods and services to the company earns at least a living wage or income, in an effort to improve living standards for low-paid workers worldwide.

The move is thought to be the first of its kind by a British company and will affect all of Unilever's 70,000 suppliers and service providers.

Unilever said it will focus on helping the most vulnerable workers in manufacturing and agriculture and in certain crop industries such as cocoa, tea, palm oil, vegetables and vanilla, where the disparity between a legal minimum wage and living wage is traditionally larger. Unilever will begin working with companies in China, India, Brazil,Vietnam and the Philippines within the next month.

Alan Jope, the company's chief executive, said: "We believe the actions we are committing to will make Unilever a better, stronger business; ready for the huge societal changes we are experiencing today – changes that will only accelerate. Without a healthy society, there cannot be a healthy business."

As part of the commitments, Unilever – which modelled itself as an ethical pioneer under previous boss Paul Polman – said it had also pledged to spend €2bn (£1.5bn) annually with suppliers owned and managed by people from under-represented groups by 2025, and pledged to equip 10m young people with essential skills to prepare them for job opportunities by 2030.

Unilever said it will commit to including people from diverse groups both on the screen and behind the camera in the advertising of its brands, which also include PG Tips and Ben & Jerry's.

It is the second-largest advertiser in the world and has previously come under fire for its portrayal of people of colour.

In 2017, it was forced to apologise after an advertising campaign for Dove, which included an image of a black woman removing her top to reveal a white model underneath, was branded "racist". And last year it changed the name of its skin lightening cream Fair and Lovely to Glow and Lovely after it was accused of promoting negative stereotypes around darker skin tones.

"We will help tackle the prevalence of stereotypes that are often perpetuated through advertising, and promote a more inclusive representation of people," Unilever said.

Some 70,000 Suppliers and service providers are likely to be affected by Unilever's move to force a living wage to be paid to workers.