A report by the international clothing workers' rights campaign Play Fair says garment makers in Asia are routinely working long hours under poor conditions in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics. The newsagency AFP reports that Play Fair says conditions for sportswear and equipment makers in the region have not significantly improved since the last Olympics in Athens in 2004, and says “substantial violations of worker rights are still the norm.”
Play Fair says workers are under “extreme pressure” to meet quotas, frequently work long hours of unpaid overtime, and are exposed to “toxic chemicals.” Its report also accuses employers of skirting minimum wage laws and overtime limits.
One worker at the sportswear subcontractor Yue Yuen in the city of Dongguan told researchers she was “exhausted to death”.
“Two of us have to glue 120 pairs of shoes every hour. We are working without rest and are always afraid of not working fast enough to supply soles to the next production line.”
Many production workers at Joyful Long factory in China's Pearl River Delta told researchers they were working seven days a week, and working up to 230 hours of overtime a month.
The Play Fair 2008 campaign is being led by the Clean Clothes Campaign, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Worker's Federation.
Based on interviews with over 300 sportswear workers in China, India, Thailand and Indonesia, Clearing the Hurdles shows that violations of worker rights is still the sportswear industry norm including in workplaces producing for adidas, sponsor of the Beijing and London Games and numerous national Olympic teams.
“Workers making the goods sold by brand leaders such as adidas, Asics, New Balance, Nike and Puma are still earning poverty wages despite the fact that company profits are soaring into the hundreds of millions, sometimes even billions of dollars,” said Neil Kearney, general secretary of the ITGLWF (International Textile Garment and Leather Workers Federation), one of the organizations coordinating the Play Fair 2008 campaign in the lead up to the Beijing Games.
“This report presents clear targets for industry to work towards to make progress were urging industry leaders to step up to the challenge.”
