Chemical Workers' Union challenges other unions to the campaign for fair sports wear and equipments

(Helsinki 08.06.2006 - Juhani Artto) Just before the kick off of the World Cup 2006 in Germany a new 2-year campaign for fair sports wear and equipment has kicked off in Finland. On a practical level the campaign promotes sales of footballs that have been produced, in Pakistan, under fair conditions. The workers who stitch the footballs are paid decent wages, and no children participate in the production.

According to the campaign a worker receives 50 to 70 Pakistan rupees (euro = 77 rupees) per fair football. It is roughly double as much as that for "regular" production and offers a modest livelihood. An effective worker can stitch 3 to 5 footballs per day.

The Clean Clothes Campaign has estimated that in Pakistan a family of 7 to 10 persons need 10,000 to 12,000 rupees monthly to pay for food, health-care and school fees. Globally, some 75 to 80 per cent of all footballs are produced in Pakistan.

The organisers of the new campaign in Finland are the Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland SASK, the association Pro Fair Trade Finland and the Football Association of Finland.

The Chemical Workers' Union has taken a keen interest in the campaign from the very beginning. When it comes to &#;8216affirmative action’ they have been decidedly ‘on the ball’. The union has become a sponsor of the football team "Wild Cats” (Villikissat) which belongs to the local sports association Puotinkylän Valtti in Eastern Helsinki. The players are ten-year old girls. The union has ordered sports and leisurewear for them from Finnish manufacturers .In addition the union has donated fair footballs to the team.

And what about football boots? The answer, the Chemical Workers' Union President Timo Vallittu gives, is rather surprising. It seems nowhere in the whole world are there football boots which carry guarantees that they have been manufactured under fair conditions. What a challenge for the world's hundreds of millions of football fans, let alone football boot manufacturers!

The Chemical Workers Union has encouraged other unions to participate in the campaign. "There could be more Fair Play teams, such as the 'Wild Cats'", Vallittu says. According to Vallittu several unions have already reacted positively to the initiative and will, probably, become sponsors of some other teams.

The wider goal of the campaign is to make as many Finns as possible conscious of the poor working conditions garment workers and shoemakers have to endure in so many countries. And it is vitally important to spread information about the lack of organising and bargaining rights.

The Chemical Workers' Union encourages Finnish consumers also to add the pressure on governments that make it difficult or even impossible to create independent trade unions. On the other hand, Vallittu emphasises that his union would by no means want to do anything that would throw poor workers in developing countries into an even more miserable social position.

"All of us have the responsibility to improve the situation: trade marks, wholesalers and states that allow loose application of legislation, sports organisations that live by their fat sponsor deals and consumers who decide what kind of production conditions they favour when buying sports wear and equipments", Vallittu says.

He strongly criticises the international football federation FIFA for its passive role in the struggle for fair working conditions for workers who produce sportswear and equipment.

The FIFA has recommended that license holders of products should uphold the right to organise and the right to a decent minimum wage. "However, FIFA does not in any way monitor activity of the license holders”. But Vallittu pulls no punches and says squarely: "In reality, FIFA has not done barely anything to promote, in working life, fair-play ideology."

The international union federation ITGLWF has tried to negotiate with the WFSGI, the sportswear and equipment companies' organisation, a global agreement on workers' fundamental rights, Vallittu explains. "But WFSGI has not been ready to do it."

Therefore the union movement has negotiated directly with companies playing a central role in the sports business. Progress in the negotiations has been mixed. "The most important achievement has been Nike's decision last year to publicise the list of its manufacturing services companies", Vallittu defines.

This article was first published in English in Trade Union News in Finland.