Sports clothing still made on starvation wages

Unreasonably long working days and starvation wages continue to be commonplace in the sports clothing and equipment manufacturing industry. According to a report on factory conditions in five Far-Eastern countries, this assessment is also true of all of the best-known brand manufacturers and leading sports sponsors. Over the last four years these leading businesses have not succeeded in significantly improving working conditions in their producer factories, even though the industry continues to be highly profitable, the new report concludes. These leading brands of sports clothing and equipment include household names such as Adidas, Asics, Nike and Puma.

The Clearing the Hurdles report was compiled by the Play Fair 2008 network, which has also launched a Catch the Flame SMS-bluetooth-Internet torch relay enabling members of the public to show their support for the Play Fair 2008 campaign demands. This virtual Olympic Torch will tour the world and arrive in Hong Kong on 1 May 2008. The names of everyone involved in the torch relay will be added to the signatories of a letter addressed to the International Olympic Committee.

The Play Fair network published its last study of the sports industry in the run-up to the Athens Olympics in 2004. Information gathered from China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Thailand shows that despite the efforts of brand name companies to tackle anomalies, no significant improvements in working conditions have occurred in the sports clothing and equipment manufacturing industry over the last four years.

Some of the worst problems include interference in the organising and collective bargaining rights of workers, wages falling below statutory minimum pay rates, overtime abuses, and an increasing tendency to compartmentalise and outsource work.

Finnish trade union and NGO members of the Play Fair 2008 network include the national labour confederations SAK, STTK and AKAVA, the Chemical Workers&#;8217 Union and the Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland – SASK.