Sportswear brands in race to the bottom for Winter Olympics
Sunday, 10 January 2010 20:00
As Winter athletes gear up for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the sportswear industry that clothes and endorses them continues to promote an even tougher competition - the race to the bottom on wages and conditions for the millions of workers relying on the industry for their livelihoods.
Playfair has asked for top sportswear brands to tell us what they have been doing to clear the hurdles that keep workers in poor conditions and prevent them from getting their rights. As we approach the start of Vancouver 2010 we have released the results.
None of the brands is moving quickly enough for success to be guaranteed for workers. This new Playfair campaign calls on the top Sportswear brands to take action now end the race to the bottom and enter into the Olympic spirit of fair play for all.
*Take action! Send a letter to the top CEOs today >>
*See which brands are failing to Clear the Hurdles towards Fair Play in the sportswear industry >>
The widespread abuse of workers rights in sportswear supply chains is now well known. Most of the large sportswear retailers have developed policies that they claim will tackle these issues. Yet substantial violations of worker rights and poverty wages are still the norm for hundreds of thousands of workers in the sportswear industry.
On the eve of the Beijing Olympics the Playfair coalition, which includes the Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) in Canada, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) in Europe, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Union (ITGLWF), put forward a series of demands which aimed to help clear some of the major hurdles which continue to prevent any genuine and sustained improvements. Each of the detailed, concrete demands corresponded to one of the following four hurdles identified by workers as key obstacles to improving workers rights:
In the run up to the next Olympic Games, due to start in Vancouver this February, the Playfair coalition has called on each targeted brand to report back on their progress on each of these hurdles and has released a ratings charts for each brand based on their responses. The ratings chart comparing the either surveyed brands
Ratings are available for each of the following sportswear brands:
The results are disappointing. “Since the Beijing Olympics, sportswear brands have barely moved to overcome four major hurdles blocking improvements on wages and working conditions, with the result that workers rights in this industry are on a downhill slide,” said Lynda Yanz, Executive Director of the Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN).
“Many sportswear brands talk a good game,” says Patrick Itschert, General Secretary of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation. “They say they want to uphold core labour standards in the factories producing Olympic-branded goods, but they aren’t willing to take the critical steps to create decent work throughout their supply chain. The goal of our campaign is to make them measure up.”
Playfair is calling on supporters to email today to call on brands to do more. Take action now!
