By Mick Duncan
The International Olympics Committee (IOC) is turning a blind eye to the super-exploitation of workers producing sportswear marketed around the Athens Olympic Games.
The IOC ducks responsibility by stating that control over standards in this area lies with the National Olympic Committees, while the National Committees refer back to the IOC. But the Olympics Charter states that "all rights to the Olympic Symbol, Flag, and Motto belong exclusively to the IOC', giving them authority over licensing of National Committees and companies producing Olympics branded goods.
Oxfam and the Clean Clothes Campaign say that the IOC has "crudely dismissed" concerns that licences to make Olympic-branded gear are going to sportswear companies that are violating the rights of their workers.
The IOC has cancelled a meeting with representatives of the 'Play Fair' coalition, made up of NGOs and the international unions, and missed agreed deadlines to respond to criticism.
The campaign is tackling the sportswear industry that makes millions of dollars from association with the Olympics and with Olympics branded clothes. The huge sales boost in an Olympic year adds to the pressure that hundreds of thousand of workers face across the world to work longer, cheaper and faster.
In March the Play Fair at the Olympics report revealed a catalogue of misery suffered by workers from Bulgaria to Thailand:
- Companies which flout their own ethical codes by using cut-throat tactics to bring products to shop shelves at cheaper prices, at a faster rate and with more flexibility;
- Factory managers failing to respect labour standards in the face of high-pressure demands from companies;
- Workers dismissed for trying to join a trade union.
Oxfam states, "The IOC should ensure that Olympics sponsors and licensees meet their responsibilities towards workers' rights by making this a provision in their licensing agreements and putting in place a system for implementation. This would make the Olympics much worthier of celebration."
