matt_t said:
bit of a threadjack - sorry - but does anyone know what Lidl's
ethical record is like... what their labour standards are etc ...
Matter of much debate.
Some people maintain that they are very evil and don't trust their
staff (CCTV in staff rooms etc). However, I am yet to find a
supermarket chain that _does_ trust its staff. It's completely
routine, for example, for till operatives to be logged by the system
(how many items they swiped per hour, how long they left their post to
go to the toilet and so on), and staff to be more CCTV'd than
customers.
In Lidl's favour, some of their special offers are actual brand-names
(some Stanley tools recently, for example), and since they manage to
source them at cheap prices, it's not completely impossible that their
non-brand stuff may be no less ethical than anyone else. If you buy a
cheap unicycle anywhere else, do you know the age of the Taiwanese
welder?
Also in Lidl's favour - the staff in my local branch appear, on
average, at least 53% happier and 86% more human than the miserable
sods in my local Sainsbury, and I've never established intelligent
communication with the life-forms in my local Tesco. I probably
should declare that my local Lidl is a regional training centre,
though - at least some of the staff are recent employees there
temporarily and probably more highly motivated than average, and
others are presumably there on the path up from nobody to management.
There's also a higher than normal incidence of suits wandering around
(which might also help to keep staff happy - strangely, seeing
management makes staff slightly happier on average, being able to talk
to management even more so).
In general, I buy veg there if my local supply is missed (it's hard to
be cruel to a carrot), I don't generally buy meat (it's largely
continental Europe sourced, and I believe the continental's standards
of animal care are lower than the UK's), I do buy their special offer
non-food stuff. I am aware, however, that it's difficult to know the
standards of the manufacturer, so I don't buy things that come form
industries notorious for employee abuse (clothes, trainers).
But do you know the number-one top reason for shopping there?
No piped music. Bliss (at least, as close as shopping gets to it).
regards, Ian SMith
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