Fair Shop drive gets thumbs-up

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Following on from the very successful launch of Fair Shop at Christmas, a range of national and international organisations have announced their backing for this exciting and innovative initiative.

Uni Global – the voice of 20 million service sector workers – is one such organisation that has thrown its weight behind the drive. It has 900 affiliated unions and represents workers in 150 countries.

Alke Boessigner from Uni said: “We are delighted to be able to support wholeheartedly an initiative that puts workers first, incentivises consumers and union members to spend wisely and highlights the vitally important matter of collective bargaining for workers in retail in Ireland.”

National Coordinator Brian Forbes told Shopfloor: “It is fantastic news that Uni are supporting us alongside every single trade union in Ireland. This is a really positive development in our campaign.

“We are also indebted to progressive organisations in Ireland including the European Anti-Poverty Network, the National Women’s Council, the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, Open and the Vincentian Partnership who were all among the first tranche of supporters for the Fair Shop campaign – with many more joining us as we progress with the campaign.”

Praise for the campaign has come from far and wide and from a range of organisations in the UK, Canada, USA and Australia.

Mr Forbes said: “As a fledgling ethical consumerism campaign, we have many innovative ideas on how to promote Fair Shopping and if our website wwwfairshop.ie is any indication of interest in the concept, then we are off to an excellent start and are very positive for the future.

“We aim to get out to every nook and cranny across the country over the coming months and years to promote the issue of ethical consumerism.

“It certainly is an exciting time to be involved with Fair Shop as many more consumers are getting increasingly aware of both where they shop and how workers are treated in that shop. Fair Shop helps to point them in the right direction.”

Future announcements of more fair shops are expected and the site www.fairshop.ie is Smartphone compatible and includes a Fair Shop location finder which helps consumers pinpoint Fair Shops locally so there really is no excuse for shopping elsewhere.

Mr Forbes added: “Fair Shop with retail companies in Ireland who support their workforce and spend your hard earned cash where workers count. You know it makes sense!”