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June 28,
2006 Reports
from the different Clean Clothes Campaigns and projects
 February
- June 2006
Austria - Clean Clothes-KampagnePublic
Awareness Campaigns
Football World Championship
action 19th May 2006We organised an action
(in line with the action day in Germany) in a Vienna
shopping street. School children and passers-by
were invited to play table football under unfair
conditions and to sew footballs.
Vienna City Marathon 7th May
2006 600 runners supported the action "Let's
run fair" of the Austrian CCC, and wore a CCC
T-shirt or CCC-stickers to publicly show their solidarity
with the work of the CCC. As a highlight the world
record holder 24h barefoot running, Dietmar Mücke,
came to the marathon and demonstrated his solidarity
with the CCC.
Olympia Turin/Vienna 23rd February
2006 We did an action in a Vienna shopping
street. Activists dressed like goods spread around
400 protest postcards. A press release was distributed
and protest letters were sent from the Austrian
CCC website.
Tchibo/Eduscho-Campaign
We distributed a press release about the case Basic
Apparels, reported about this in the Austrian CCC
newsletter, and we met with the Tchibo workers council.
Other activities and Events
We distributed press releases on labour rights and
sportswear production in Asia.
We held presentations on the CCC in three schools
in Graz, Vienna and Frohsdorf.
We did presentation work for the CCC with information
stalls at nine events.
We had a meeting with the sales manager of Blaumax
(a small Austrian brand). Solidarity
WorkUrgent Appeals
Nisa Protest letters
were sent from the Austrian CCC website.
North Sails We re-launched
this urgent appeal. The start event was an action
in Podersdorf , 29th of April, at the surf competition
opening (PWA Windsurf Freestyle World Cup Competition),
where we spread around 500 protest postcards addressed
to GST. Until now we have circulated around 900
protest postcards and have collected around 200
signatures, and protest letters were sent from the
Austrian CCC website.
Hermosa 749 protest
letters were sent from the Austrian CCC website.
Martin Barrios 562 protest
letters were sent from the Austrian CCC website.
Bangladesh We made a
report about the series of accidents with updates
and new letters, we did a press release focusing
on KiK and NKD and1102 protest letters were sent
from the Austrian CCC website.
Spectrum This is ongoing
with updates and new letters - protest letters can
be sent from the Austrian CCC website since February.Companies
Monitoring and Verification
CSR
CCC is participating in the Austrian group for developing
an ISO-Standard on CSR.
A civil society CSR network was founded in April
2006 with the participation of unions, chamber of
workers, NGOs and the CCC.New
Publications and Materials CCC
Leaflet
A new CCC Leaflet was printed.
UA Leaflet
An Urgent Appeal leaflet was printed, which explains
the Urgent Appeal System of the CCC and gives guidance
on how to become involved.
Leaflet for the Vienna City
Marathon and the Linz Danube Marathon
A leaflet was printed to mobilise runners for the
Vienna City Marathon and the Linz Danube Marathon.
Protest postcard For
the North Sails case we produced 1000 protest postcards
addressed to Mr. Berger, the owner of GST.
Newsletter A new CCC
Austria Newsletter came out in April (circulation
12.700), the next issue comes out in June.
Belgium North - Schone Kleren
CampagnePublic Awareness
Turin Olympics We did
a street action in cooperation with the city council
of Brussels, in a busy shopping street in Brussels
on February 15th. Concept: warming up exercises
for skiing, inviting people in the street to participate
+ leafleting. Solidarity WorkUrgent
Appeals
Spectrum - Bangladesh
We are following up with trade union delegates
of Carrefour, and welcomed the Spectrum representatives
when they visited Belgium on their worker tour (February).
We did an action in front of the embassy of Bangladesh
11th of April, and had a meeting with meeting with
Neil Kearny (ITGLWF).
GP Garments - Sri Lanka
We are keeping in touch with Anton Marcus (our local
partner) and with the NCP to find out about their
statement.
Hermosa - El Salvador
The NGO FOS is taking up this appeal, and we have
publicised about it on the SKC website.Companies
Monitoring and Verification
FWF We are finalising
a project proposal for 3 years; focusing on work
wear procurement.
Clean Clothes at work
The unions re-launched the campaign.Public
Authorities Ethical
Procurement Clean Clothes
Communities Ongoing action on this subject,
for instance with an action in front of the city
hall of Antwerp.
CSR We gave feedback
on a proposal for a national framework for CSR,
and participated in two meetings to develop an action
plan for CSR.
Belgium South - Campagne Vêtements
PropresPublic Awareness
Turin Olympics
See report Belgium North (above).
We launched the Bien dans mes baskets action line,
and received good press coverage, a.o national radio,
and the two main French speaking newspapers.
World Cup We issued
a press release, and got some media attention.Solidarity
Work Urgent Appeals
Bangladesh: Spectrum
/ Riots We have been following up with Cotton
Group, and took a journalist of a big Belgian newspaper
to Bangladesh, who wrote a well read feature on
the situation. When he was visiting Brussels, we
had a meeting with the Bangladesh Minister of Foreign
Affairs, to ask him to take action. We have launched
a new appeal concerning the riots in the country.
Clean Clothes Campaign seminar
with trade unions February 10th we organised
a seminar to promote tools for union's initiatives
inside retailing companies, in the framework of
the Clean Clothes Campaign. Participation of Nur
and Jahangir from Bangladesh participated, and 32
participants from the two main trade unions in retailing
and production took part.CompaniesMonitoring
and Verification
FWF - see Belgium
North (above)
Clean Clothes at work
The unions re-launched the campaign.Public
Authorities Ethical
Procurement
Clean Clothes Communities
Ongoing action through various local groups in about
10 municipalities in the perspective of the local
election campaign (8 October). We are following
up with municipalities by means of training, a technical
guide and setting indicators for progress.
Germany
- Kampagne für 'Saubere' Kleidung
Public Awareness Campaigns
World Cup - Campaign:
- Workers' tour with Estela Ramirez (Hermosa
/ El Salvador)
- National action day in May
- Action workshop in preparation for our WC
activities in Berlin
- May 1st action targeting sporting goods industry
(Tatoos, huge T-shirt, street-theater) in Berlin
- Video-Spot for subway and movie-theaters targeting
sporting goods industry
- Action - website for WC-campaign (www.inkota.de/wm2006)
Press work Tchibo - Campaign:
- Meeting with Tchibo representatives in March
about current cases and future CSR policies
of Tchibo
- Compiling written documentation about the
Tchibo-Campaign (in process)
Note: Tchibo Working Group will turn into a "Discounter-working
Group" à Focusing KIK
Other activities and Events
- We had our yearly national action-weekend of the
Kampagne für 'Saubere' Kleidung in Hattingen
(March 31 - April 1st).Solidarity
Work Urgent Appeals
Spectrum/Bangladesh:
- Organising activities around the February
Spectrum workers' tour (presswork and action
in front of Karstadt store in Berlin)
- Press work (articles in Neues Deutschland,
TAZ, FR, Junge Welt, Spiegel, Spiegel online)
- Holding a speech at the KQ annual shareholder
meeting
- Sending around updates for supporters
A-one/Bangladesh: -
Meeting with Tchibo representatives in March
- In constant contact with Tchibo about the case
- Coordination with partners in Bangladesh and other
national CCCs
- Articles in CCC-Rundbrief
Basic Apparel/Bangladesh:
- Meeting with Tchibo
- Several talks with Tchibo about the case
- Contact with partners in Bangladesh
Hermosa/El Salvador:
- Launched public appeal (March)
- Contact with adidas
- Speech at adidas' annual shareholder meeting
- Extensive press work (articles in several national
newspapers)
Companies Monitoring
and Verification - We are engaged in an ongoing
pilot project with Puma in El Salvador.
New Publications and Materials
- German translation of Looking for a Quick
Fix (INKOTA)
- Study about living wages at adidas' suppliers
in El Salvador (CIR) and Indonesia (Südwind)
- Spanish and French translation of "Workers'
Tool or PR Ploy?" (Südwind/FES); German
translation in progress
International secretariat -
Clean Clothes CampaignCoordination
Organisation Euromeeting
The IS, together with the German CCC, organised
and coordinated the European meeting, June 6th and
7th, Berlin.
Internship Belgium South
CCC staff went on an internship with the French
and German speaking CCC in Belgium, to learn more
about the daily activities of national coordinators,
in order to be able to support national CCCs in
the best possible way. From the 25th till the 27th
of April we took part in a platform meeting, meetings
with several NGOs as well as the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Bangladesh and talked to the coordinator
about issues related to national and European coordination.
Cornell University CCC
staff visited the conference at Cornell with more
than 560 trade unionists and scholars from 53 countries:
Global companies - Global Unions Global Research-Global
Campaigns. They made a presentation during one session
on global campaigning and one session on using the
media. Solidarity Work
Urgent Appeals Cases
The IS team continued to work on a number of active
urgent appeals cases.
Development Training UA caseworkers
The IS participates in the working group that is
developing the training for UA caseworkers, scheduled
to take place in the UK in September 2006.
Development UA manual
The IS is drafting a revised and more extensive
manual to support CCC work on urgent appeals.
Partner Activities
Eastern European meeting in
Meissen From March 23rd till 25th, CCC staff
attended a meeting with our Eastern European partners
in Meissen, Germany. The seminar aimed to facilitate
an East-West-exchange between Turkish and Eastern
European CCC-partners and CCCs. We created this
space and time for intensive discussions on the
topics, the partners in EE and Turkey are most concerned
about and would like to work on. We presented the
Quick Fix report and research, as well as the CCC
work done on public procurement. Multi stakeholder
verification processes were discussed (in the presence
of reps from Puma and Hess Natur), as well as the
possibilities for the Eastern European partners
to conduct research on work wear companies in their
regions, and work with the urgent appeals system.Public
Authorities Ethical
Procurement SweatFree Communities International
Conference 2006
CCC staff participated in the annual international
conference of SweatFree Communities (US) in Minneapolis,
from April 7th till 9th. We gave a presentation
on ethical public procurement campaigning in Europe,
and participated in workshops on MSIs and public
procurement, fair trade and ethical trade, organising
and ethical public purchasing, organising in the
age of CAFTA and marketing of alternatives as a
campaigning tool. On the side she discussed several
issues with US (partner) groups and campaigns.New
Publications and Materials New
international newsletter A new newsletter
was published in May 2006, containing articles on
the BSCI, OECD guidelines, Asian garment producers
in Africa, the national CCC Sweden, urgent appeals
and new resources.
The Netherlands - Schone Kleren
KampagnePublic Awareness
Olympic campaign - February
17: The Dutch Prince of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander,
is a member of the IOC. The Dutch CCC went to his
castle to hand over the 'Programme of work for the
sportswear industry' and ask him to commit himself
to improving labour rights in factories producing
products bearing the Olympic logo.
- We sent action cards to Mr. Rogge from the
IOC to ask him to take responsibility for how
merchandise bearing the Olympic emblem is made.
FNV joined this action and sent 500 action cards
out.
- Press: national radio interview with CCC on
Olympic campaign
Public actions
- April 11: International Action Day for Workers'
Health & Safety in Bangladesh. Dutch CCC
organised an action in the shopping centre of
Amsterdam: looking for clothes from Bangladesh
and confronting shop managers and public with
the struggle for safe and healthy workplaces.
- 34.000 scratch-lottery tickets have been distributed
so far (see previous country reports).
- September 14th the award winning movie 'China
Blue' will be released in the Netherlands. China
Blue is an inside-documentary on the life of
a young female Chinese garment worker. The movie
is very appealing and shows a lot of the CCC
concerns. Together with other NGO's the CCC
will launch the campaign 'True Blue', in order
to raise awareness on working conditions in
the Chinese garment industry.
Solidarity work Urgent
appeals - A-One
We are in regular contact with C&A on this case.
- Spectrum
We participated in the worker tour with Nura and
Jahangir:
- meeting with Scapino on February 15
- public meeting in the Textile Museum in Tilburg
on February 16, attended by NGO's, students, consumers
and press. We were welcomed by a representative
of the city council.
- Paxar We sent a letter
to C&ACompanies
- Dutch BSCI members
Related to the tragedies involving garment factories
in Bangladesh, we sent letters to the Dutch companies
that joined the BSCI to ask them if they are producing
in Bangladesh and if so, how they guarantee that
workers in Bangladesh have a safe and healthy workplace.
- G-Star
CCC received new reports on labour rights violations
(including physical abuse) at production units in
Bangalore, India, producing for G-Star. G-Star is
informed about this from early January onward. G-Star
works on a CSR programme for all their suppliers,
it says, but refuses to act properly to resolve
the problems at the India production units. In cooperation
with the Indian Committee of the Netherlands, we
wrote a protest letter, sent to our 1050 subscribers
and our network.New publications
and materials - Dutch newsletter 'Schoon
Genoeg', May 2006
- Protest letter on G-Star, May 2006
Spain - Campaña Ropa Limpia Public
Awareness Other activities
and Events Press events
Press releases:
- March 7th: "Three out of five women
in the textile sector worldwide suffer from
lack of work contract and social security benefits"
- April 19th: CRL collaborates with the campaign
"Garment that works in favour of everybody"
responsible consumption awareness raising campaign
orientated towards companies, suppliers, public
authorities and consumers.
- April 24th: "International action day
for the workers health and safety in Bangladesh"
- May 7th: "About 30 activists at the El
Corte Inglés run protest race against
the labour and purchasing practices of this
brand"
- May 25th: CRL launch the campaign "What's
behind Induyco's garment"
- May 25th: CRL attends Adolfo Dominguez' shareholder
meeting, focusing on ADZ progress in CSR policy
- May 31st: "Trabajo infantil para Zara
confirma la tesis de la CRL: necesidad de control
independiente de los códigos de conducta".
In relation to the case denounced by "Expresso"
- use of child labour by Zara in Felgueiras,
Portugal
Interviews: - May:
CRL Catalonia, "Hospitalet radio" in prime
time morning programme.
- May: CRL Spain, TVE (Spanish national TV); programme
about labour.
- May: CRL Galicia, TVE; programme about consuming.
- CRL Aragón: interviews on radio, newspaper
and local TV.
Street actions:
- March 8th: Labour Rights Auction Fake: action
organised at a public market, carried out by
CRL SETEM, CECU (Consumer organisation), IO
(Oxfam) and the trade unions CC.OO and UGT.
Goal: to denounce the exploitation of women
in the garment sector by pushing down workers
rights.
- Manifesto signed by all the organisations
to stress that none of the Spanish brands can
actually guarantee that their garments are made
respecting labour rights. - Signature collection
related to the Induyco campaign and with Bangladesh
H&S awareness raising in different Spanish
autonomous communities the Day of Fair Trade:
Comunidad Valenciana (May 28th), Nafarroa (May
13th), Euskadi (Basque Country), Madrid (May
28th).
- Consumers signature collection in Euskadi
in relation with the Induyco campaign.
- Day of FairTrade in Madrid: a maquila was
recreated (hot atmosphere, sewing machines working…).
Educational activities
- Courses at the University of Vigo and Santiago
de Compostela (CRL Galicia): workshops and exhibitions
in schools in Galicia.
- Course for volunteers in Nafarroa.
- Courses at women associations and schools
in Aragón.
- Audiovisual competition about CRL (launched
in Bilbao, Donosti, Barcelona and Pamplona).
Participants have to present a 3 to 7 minutes
audiovisual project. Prize: travel to Latin
America to film Southern partners projects.
- "Day of the flowers": monument was
decorated in connection with a CRL issue.
- "Mundimedia": multicultural music
festival where signatures where collected (related
with Induyco campaign).
Solidarity Work Urgent
Appeals Case
Spectrum, Bangladesh
- E-mails sent and phone calls of concern made
to Inditex, and a meeting with the CSR responsible
in January.
- Letter sent to the Embassador of Bangladesh
in Spain. Signed by CRL, CECU (consumer organisation),
IDEAS (fair trade organisation) and CC.OO (trade
union).
- Letter sent to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
- E-mail campaign towards the Embassy of Bangladesh
in Spain.
Website We have renewed
our CRL web page to facilitate UA internet actions
and to enable us to count the number of cyber activists.
Manual The UA manual
is translated into Spanish, which we plan to publish.Companies
Brand related work
EL CORTE INGLÉS:
- Street action against El Corte Inglés/Induyco:
30 activists of the CCC participated in the annual
popular race organised by El Corte Inglés
in Barcelona with big banners asking about the origin
of their clothes. 7th May 2006
INDUYCO
- Meeting with Induyco's CSR person to inquire
about CSR policy, verification and implementation
of its code of conduct. Announcement of the
campaign "What's behind Induyco clothes?".
End of May.
- "Street-inquiry": volunteers from
CRL Euskadi asked at the stores where Induyco's
garment are sold (under different brands) about
how the clothes have been produced. They also
search for information by looking at the labels.
February. Nowadays Induyco's website is not
accessible anymore ("under construction").
ADOLFO DOMINGUEZ CRL
Galicia attended ADZ shareholder meeting for the
second year running and received good press coverage,
mostly media from Galizia (where headquarters of
ADZ and Inditex are). May 26th.
INDITEX Next shareholder
meeting is about mid July. A representative of CRL
will attend the meeting. Canal Arte contacted CRL
recently to invite us to participate in a project
documentary (where CCC Germany is involved). They
will be filming in A Coruña and will be interviewing
responsible people from Zara-Inditex.Public
AuthoritiesEthical
Procurement Ethical
public procurement in Catalonia
We published a new "Hand book for the introduction
of social clauses in public work wear purchasing"
(in Catalan). Also, we are assessing the Generalitat
de Catalunya (Catalonia Regional Government) about
ethical public procurement of work wear and we expect
to have some first results in the first half of
2007.
New Publications and Materials
- Post cards that can be sent to Induyco.
- Postal free, posters and leaflets on CRL designed
and distributed by CRL Aragón.
- New "Hand book for the introduction of
social clauses in public work wear purchasing"
- Guide for Responsible Consuming, edited by
Aragón and Comunidad Valenciana
- UA leaflet designed by CRL Comunidad Valenciana.
Sweden - Rena Kläder Public
AwarenessCampaigns
Public Procurement
- Mina Skattepengar - My tax
money In twelve cities a campaign education
meeting for activists was held. In seven of those
cities local campaign groups were formed. On the
13th of May the campaign was launched. There were
a lot of activities and street actions. At the same
time a campaign website also was released - www.minaskattepengar.nu
- where pictures from some of the actions can be
found. A couple of days after the campaign launch
the youth association of the liberal party published
an Op-Ed together with the trade union (and platform
member) SKTF.
Now the campaign will continue on a local level.
The next big national event is during the annual
"Politician week" (a big PR/politician/media
event) on Gotland, where we will - among other things
- arrange a seminar/panel with the title "Social
responsibility - what can the public learn from
the private". Participants will be Ingrid Schullström
from H&M, Wanja Lunby Wedin, president of the
biggest trade union confederation, Kristian Karlsson
from the neoliberal think thank Timbro and Fredrik
Malm, president of the Youth Association of the
Liberal Party.
We also sent a questionnaire to all parties in the
parliament about there position on ethical demands
in public procurement.
Play Fair 2006 The Swedish
Play Fair 2006 put focus on two Swedish sportswear
retailers, Stadium and Team Sportia as well as the
Swedish Olympic Committee. In April a letter was
sent to all the targets. Both Stadium and Team Sportia
answered and meetings are scheduled with them in
May and June. We have not received any answer from
the Swedish Olympic Committee.
During May the run "Vår Ruset" took
place in several Swedish cities. In this race only
women are allowed to participate. In six of these
cities, Malmö, Göteborg, Örebro,
Uppsala, Stockholm and Umeå, Rena Kläder
teams participated in the race and also collected
signatures and postcards to the Swedish Olympic
Committee.
In June, July and August the platform members Youth
of The Swedish Church and Red Cross Youth Association
will arrange a tour to several music festivals as
a part of this campaign.
Other activities and Events
Rena Kläder education
20 - 21 May Rena Kläder held a activist education.
18 activists participated, the majority were members
of Red Cross youth association, some came from trade
unions and some where on their own. The education
focused on urgent appeals and public procurement.
Solidarity Work Urgent
Appeals Paxar
We have been in contact with H&M on this case,
they say that they are not buying from Paxar in
Turkey. They are following the case and say that
they are supporting they buyers that are in discussion
with Paxar. They also say Paxar knows that H&M
supports the demands put forward.
Companies Brand related
work H&M report
Our H&M report was released on April 24th. The
report got some media attention - the same day as
the release there was a live broadcasted radio debate
between Rena Kläder co-ordniator Joel Lindefors
and Ingrid Schullström from H&M. Several
newspapers also highlighted the report. Now, the
H&M report is the most popular report to download
from the Rena Kläder homepage. Text also available
in English.Public Authorities
Ethical Procurement
Mina Skattepengar
See "Campaigns".New
Publications and Materials H&M Report
Released and printed in Swedish. Text also available
in English.
Postcards
For the Play Fair 2006 campaign. In Swedish.
Leaflet
New leaflet about Rena Kläder. In Swedish.
Globala Röster
Co-operation with several NGO's. Magazine about
garment industry. In Swedish.
Switzerland - Clean Clothes
Campaign Public Awareness
RatingWe published
a detailed rating report for each of the 27 companies
we evaluated (including Adidas, Carrefour, H&M,
Puma etc.). We received several reactions from companies,
incl. Adidas and Puma, and did some promotion for
the new publication (German: "Etikette der
Kleider"; Italian and French BD-Newsletter).
Leaflet with Puma-Shirt from Swiss Worldcup Team
We distributed some 70'000 leaflets on many events,
in bars, schools, and through actions groups in
the streets. We did a debate with Puma about living
wage, which received good media coverage and many
reactions from the public.
Clean Clothes Campaign Events
- Public debate in church of Nottwil, March 14th
- Workshop at design collage in Zurich, March 30th
- Public debate at a women's roundtable in Kloten,
April 12th
- Workshop at University of Luzern on CCC with students
(intercultural animators), May 2nd Solidarity
Work Urgent Appeals
Spectrum / Bangaldesh
We did some media Work and an homepage update.
Hermosa / El Salvador
We were visited by two guests from El Salvador,
who gave a workshop in Zurich on May 1st. We updated
the homepage and did some media work.Companies
Monitoring and Verification
ISCOM They started with
verification in India (in cooperation with FWF)
for Migros, Switcher and WWF/Panda. There is regular
information exchange between CCC and ISCOM, and
Frans Papma (FWF) met with ISCOM in Zurich.
Meetings with companies
We have been in ongoing discussions or meetings
with Coop, Migros, Vögele, Switcher.Public
Authorities OECD-Guidelines
NCP Meeting
There has been a meeting of government with NGOs
to present the NCP on May 18th.Other
relevant news Toys
We have been talking with companies about NGO demands
to improve labour conditions (focus on China), Feb.
14th
We have been on a panel at the Swiss Toy Forum (with
Migros, Manor, ICTI, LEGO, Intertek, Swiss government),
April 28th - this received good media attention.
United Kingdom - Labour Behind
the LabelPublic Awareness
Football Associations
The report 'Sweet FA? Football Associations, workers'
rights, and the World Cup' on their ethical policies
is finished - see http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org/content/view/118/56/.Solidarity
Work Urgent Appeals
Fortune garments case
Newspaper articles and an urgent appeal
online put pressure on companies, case now resolved!
We met with the brands and sourcing agents at the
ETI after the resolution to discuss how to move
forward. Bangladesh
We wrote to all the high street companies asking
them what they have done about health & safety
in Bangladesh. Only a few responses, we intend to
put them online soon. Martin
Barrios case Urgent appeal online. TLC/Lek
case Urgent appeal online. Hermosa
case Urgent appeal online.Companies
Fairtrade We
have been in touch with Marks & Spencer about
their new Fairtrade cotton clothing. Report
We have compiled a database of all the major
high street companies and their policies on living
wage, freedom of association and monitoring and
verification, together with our comments. We sent
the database entries to companies asking them if
they wished to respond.Public
Authorities Supermarkets
The competition regulator is going to investigate
supermarkets. We made submissions to their consultation
to have them include non-food items.New
Publications and Materials Action
cards - we made a generic action card (people
can stick their receipt/label on) and a new leaflet
about LBL. They are very popular.
Bulletin - we made a
new one
New website - we made
a totally new website with lots of new content.
It has been very successful - we got good feedback
from users and our hits have gone up five times!
Low-cost retailers/supermarkets
- we are about to publish a briefing on them (Tesco,
Asda, Primark, Matalan), talking about purchasing
practices. Meanwhile lots of NGOs want to collaborate
on research into supermarkets supply chains.
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