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Fila Fails on Fair Play

Italian-born sportswear company FILA was bought in 2003 by US-based Sport Brands International after years of being unprofitable. Its annual advertising budget around this time was US$72 million.  It has sponsored some of the biggest names in tennis Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati. Presently, it sponsors Kim Clijsters, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Mikhail Youzhny. It sources most of its production from East Asia, including Thailand, Indonesia,Cambodia and China.

FILA describes itself as more concerned with the person than the champion . The young women producing its goods, however, report working conditions that show little concern for their right to live full and dignified lives.

FILA has made impressive statements of commitment to workers rights

“[We] are dedicated to ensuring that our products are manufactured under conditions which reflect our commitment to human rights in the workplace.We support internationally-recognised norms for the safety and well-being of the individuals who are responsible for the manufacture of our products and we believe that it is incumbent upon the corporate community, including ourselves, to ensure that individuals working environments around the globe meet or exceed those norms”. (FILA US to Belgian Clean Clothes Campaign, June 04).

These, however, were far from supported by the testimonies of garment workers producing for FILA and the organisations that represented them when Labour Behind the Label produced this 2005 report.

 

Labour behind the label coordinates The UK platform of the clean Clothes campign
The clean clothes campaign 10-12 picton streen, bristol bs6 5qa, UK T +44 (0) 117 944 1700
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