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Fila's Labour Abuses Continue!

Italian-born Fila, which has been unprofitable over the last few years, is said to be making a very good recovery following its US$ 350 million buy-out by privately owned US-based Sport Brands International in July 2003. SBI has instigated a vigorous overhaul of Fila's global operations, seeking to maximise brand-value, streamlining corporate structures, and improving its supply-chain management. Fila's new management strategy aims to reduce delivery lead-times. Its sourcing centres have been moved closer to production sites. Most of its athletic apparel and footwear is produced in the Far East - including China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia.

Seeking to attract the younger consumer, Fila is developing products that are more fashion-orientated: a trend which demands greater speed and flexibility from its manufacturers. Pursuing an aggressive advertising campaign, with a marketing budget of more than US$ 70 million, Fila sponsors sports celebrities, including tennis stars Jennifer Capriati and Kim Clijsters, and US long-distance runner Adam Goucher. A letter from Fila's Manager for Brand Protection and Corporate Compliance, dated 7 January 2004, states: "Fila is dedicated to ensuring that its 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 global meet or exceed these norms."

Although Fila has a Code of Business Conduct, we have not been able to trace any information on how the company actually implements its code. Fila has not joined any multi-stakeholder initiatives on labour standards. Evidence on the ground suggests that the company is far from meeting its ethical commitments. Interviews with workers supplying Fila gave these examples of abuse:

  1. Workers made to do overtime until midnight, without any advance warning, before an export deadline. If they refused, they were at risk of being dismissed.

  2. Workers at one Chinese factory were fined US$ 6 each for making flawed products.

  3. Workers threatened with dismissal for taking part in trade-union activities.

  4. Workers ignorant of Fila's code of conduct, despite the company's status as a major customer of their factory.

Fila needs to make serious efforts to ensure that its business operations do not lead to the exploitation of workers in its supply-chain. Simply having a code of conduct is not enough. Fila should take immediate steps to collaborate with its suppliers, to make the provisions of its code an effective guarantee of the rights of the workers who produce its goods.

The Tae Hwa case:

No Response from FILA

July 2007,

For more than two years the CCC has publicly called upon the US-sportswear brand FILA to ensure proper compensation for the women and men who lost their jobs when FILA supplier PT Tae Hwa shut down in 2005.To date FILA has failed to respond to our requests for action in relation to the closure of their Indonesian sports shoe supplier.

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