Winter Olympic Games - IOC on Thin Ice
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photo: A "ski instructor"
from the Belgian CCC demonstrates his moves for sportswear
workers' rights in a busy Brussels' shopping street,
February 2006.
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The Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy in February 2006
were the focus for continued pressure on the International
Olympic Committee (IOC). As with the Games in Athens in
2004, the same basic message remains - that the Olympic
ideals of respect, dignity and fair play should apply also
to the workers who produce sportswear.
The Play Fair Alliance, which brings together trade unions
and labour rights groups worldwide, has continued to press
the case, as part of its "From Athens to Beijing"
strategy. In the run-up to the Turin Games, the CCC published
an update "How Are They Doing?" on the steps being
taken as a result of the campaign by the IOC, the World
Federation of Sporting Goods Industries, and seven major
sportswear brands to improve conditions in the sportswear
sector.
The CCC is dismayed in particular at the IOC's lack of
commitment to ensuring that internationally-agreed workers'
rights are respected by the Olympic movement. In October
2005 the ICFTU global union federation (on behalf of the
Alliance) met with the IOC marketing department in Geneva.
The IOC undertook internal discussions within its secretariat
on the issues raised. So far, no outcomes of this process
have been received.
Therefore, through the CCC website and other actions, people
were urged to send a message to the IOC President Jacques
Rogge, asking him to take responsibility for the conditions
in which merchandise bearing the Olympic emblem is made.
The CCC argues that, in the Olympics Charter and in practice,
the IOC needs to make sure, in consultation with relevant
stakeholders, that workers' rights are respected in all
Olympics-related contracts. Some 1,200 e-mails were sent
to Rogge from the Netherlands alone, from the network that
includes FNV trade unionists. We hope to hear from Mr. Rogge
soon.
For more information see www.cleanclothes.org/campaign/06-02-20.htm
Belgium: Creating a Snowstorm
In terms of winter sports, Belgium is not a big country.
Only four Belgian athletes took part in the Turin Games.
However, in terms of labour rights campaigning, Belgium
is much bigger. Among their activities in the run-up to
the Olympics in Athens two years ago, campaigners handed
over a petition of 100,000 signatures to the Belgian National
Olympic Committee and the Fila sportswear company.
To keep the fire burning during the Turin Olympics, on
February 15, 2006 activists dressed in winter sportswear
created a snowstorm in Brussels and encouraged shoppers
in a busy street to take part in "winter games."
The action drew a lot of attention from the public and the
press.
The action was supported by the Brussels City Council,
which used the occasion to announce that it will be putting
a "social clause" in all its future tendering
for the workwear of its employees.
For more information see www.vetementspropres.be
and www.wsm.be
Netherlands: Breaking the Ice with Royalty
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photo: Dutch CCC activists
gather in front of the Royal Palace in The Hague to
send a message to Prince Willem-Alexander who is a
member of the International Olympic Committee, February
2006. Their poster "Willem Wordt Wakker"
means "William Wake Up," also the title
of a popular song from the sixties.
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The Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander is a member of
the IOC. So, in February activists from the Dutch CCC went
to his palace in The Hague to hand over the "Programme
of Work for the Sportswear Industry" (POW) and to ask
him to commit himself to improving labour rights in factories
producing products bearing the Olympic logo. The Dutch activists
wore the royal colour orange. However, the palace guards
refused the colourful supporters entry, and so the POW had
to be left at the gate. Sadly, there has been no response
from the Prince as yet.
Photo: As they did in June 2004 in the run up to the Athens
Olympics, the Gods of Olympus returned to Vienna's busy
shopping streets in February, 2006. Their signboards announced
"00:00 Labour rights in the sportswear industry,"
and postcards were distributed to the public to send to
IOC President Jacques Rogge.
UK: Father Christmas Evicted for Campaigning
On November 25, 2005, Father Christmas paid an early visit
to Philip Green care of the Top Shop Store, Oxford Circus,
London. The present he was delivering was an oversize Advent
calendar, bearing the legend "Merry Christmas Mr Green.
Please Don't Be Mean." He also brought messages from
young people concerned about the rights of workers in factories
producing clothing for Green.
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photo: As they did in
June 2004 in the run up to the Athens Olympics, the
Gods of Olympus returned to Vienna’s busy shopping
streets in February, 2006. Their signboards announced
“00:00 Labour rights in the sportswear industry,”
and postcards were distributed to the public to send
to IOC President Jacques Rogge.
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Green is the UK's fifth richest man. The Arcadia Group
of fashion outlets that he owns is the UK's biggest women's
wear retailer. It owns seven high street labels: Dorothy
Perkins, Burton, Top Man and Top Shop, Wallis, Evans, Bhs
and Miss Selfridge, whose products are available in more
than 2,000 UK outlets, as well as international stores in
another 20 countries.
Father Christmas's support was enlisted by the UK CCC/
Labour Behind the Label (LBL) and campaign group No Sweat,
after no response to repeated attempts to contact Green.
Sadly, Father Christmas was ejected for his efforts. However,
with simultaneous actions taking place also in Brighton,
Birmingham, Norwich, Bristol, Sheffield, Northampton and
Leicester, the pressure was on.
Three days later, Green took the unusual step of personally
approaching activists outside the Oxford Circus store, but
only to ask them to stop their protest. Later he accepted
a call from Martin Hearson of LBL, but has so far not followed
up on his promise to hold further conversations.
Arcadia has a code of conduct whose contents are relatively
good. However, there is no public information about how
it is implemented and verified. The Arcadia group has so
far not engaged constructively with campaign groups, trade
unions or factory managements over specific cases. Nor has
it agreed to join the Ethical Trading Initiative, one of
the few British clothing retailers not to do so.
Green told the Guardian newspaper, "We have contracts
with all the factories who make our clothes and do our best
to ensure that the workers are treated fairly. If factories
do not comply, then we don't do business with them."
LBL has been quick to point out that such a "cut and
run" policy over cases of noncompliance does not help
the workers involved, but leaves them even worse off than
before.
Then in mid-February, Top Shop announced a new deal to
stock Fairtrade cotton clothes in its stores. They will
be lines produced by "alternative trade" companies
Gossypium, People Tree and Hug. Retailing these extra lines
says nothing, however, about improvements in the working
conditions of Arcadia's own supply chains.
Green has massively increased Arcadia Group profits since
purchasing the company in 2003. His method was revealed
when he said in October 2005, "We have continued to
work on our supply chain, speed to market and the customer
demands of newness in store to great effect." These
are of course practices that pressure supplier factories
into competing to offer the lowest prices and fastest turnaround
times, with negative consequences for workers.
Meanwhile, Marks and Spencer has started stocking their
own Fairtrade product lines. LBL has welcomed the move but
points out that the Fairtrade cotton mark only applies to
cotton production and not the other stages of textile and
garment manufacture. The "alternative trade" clothing
retailers People Tree, Hug and Gossypium use supply chains,
set up to meet guidelines set out by the International Fair
Trade Association (IFAT).
For more information see www.labourbehindthelabel.org/content/view/20/57/
and http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org/content/view/34/51/
