Company becomes 12th active member of TFT’s Responsible Stone Programme
As of January 2019, The Forest Trust has become Earthworm Foundation.
We are very pleased to announce that London Stone has joined TFT’s Responsible Extractives Programme (REP). London Stone supplies stone paving, landscaping and other natural stone products, and is based in the UK. The company will work to understand and improve working conditions within its supply chain.
London Stone has previously collaborated on how to improve working conditions within the natural stone industry. The ‘No Child Left Behind’ project is one example. A partnership between the NGO Manjari, another RSP member – Beltrami, the Indian Committee of the Netherlands and other partners, the project aims to tackle child labour issues in the cobble-making industry in Budhpura, Rajasthan.
As a member of the RSP, London Stone’s work plan will be guided by our ‘Respect’ guidelines for natural stone . TFT works with factories and quarries within members’ supply chains to reflect these guidelines at sites. These guides require sites to make sure that:
- Child labour is not used
- There is no forced and bonded labour
- Ethical recruitment practices are used
- The health and safety of workers is protected
- Employment contracts are provided to all workers
- Wages meet min requirements / national norms as a minimum
- Working hours meet legal requirements and are not excessive
- The company respects diversity within its workforce
- Harassment and abuse are not tolerated
- There is clear and readily accessible access to remedy
- Accommodation is safe and hygienic
- Freedoms of association and rights to collective bargaining is respected
London Stone and TFT will first start by mapping and understanding their supply chain to the quarry level. Creating transparency is a key part of TFT’s VT-TV model. TFT and London Stone will then start by working with one major supplier within India, but plan to expand to more of the supply chain in the future.
