Playfair 2012 coverage in the Evening Standard
(but not quite with the right campaign name!) Read more
July 30th, 2010
Hamdani’s Story
32 year old Hamdani made Adidas sports shoes until he was unfairly dismissed for participating in a strike for better wages. He has now been without work for 5 years and is struggling to provide for his 2 year old son. This is his story.
My name is Hamdani. I was born in Tangerang (an industrial district near Jakarta) on the 28 December 1977. I am the eldest of 5 children. Our parents made a living peddling fruit along the neighbourhood streets. When I finished my secondary education I started applying for work in factories. First I worked in a mosquito repellent factory, then producing triplex. In 2000 I secured work at an Adidas supplier called Panarub. Read more…
July 19th, 2010
Making the Playfair links – from Britain to Brazil
Every four years, a bit like the Olympics and the World Cup, trade unionists from around the world gather for the global congress of the International Trade Union Confederation. This June, over a thousand trade unionists met in Vancouver, Canada, where the 2010 Winter Olympics had taken place just months before. And the Playfair campaign went too.
July 7th, 2010
From Jakarta to London 2012 – a global campaign for a sweat-free Olympics
“The international Play Fair campaign has already had some impact – we are now negotiating with the major sportswear brands. So the ongoing support of fellow workers and students in the UK is vital for us to continue making progress.”
Lilis Mahmudah, Indonesian trade unionist
Building this ongoing support of workers and students across the UK for a sweat-free 2012 London Olympics was the goal of Lilis Mahmudah’s recent speaker tour to the UK, organised by the Playfair 2012 campaign. Lilis is part of Serikat Pekerja Nasional (SPN – Textile and Garment Trade Union) in Indonesia and she is directly involved in negotiations with sportswear companies and suppliers to improve the rights of workers, including those working on products likely to end up in a UK shop or at the 2012 Olympics.
July 1st, 2010
Soccer Ball Stitchers: The True Story
As the frenzy grows over the upcoming FIFA World Cup in South Africa, there is a part of the World Cup that won’t be broadcast on TV. New research released by International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) found workers stitching soccer balls in Pakistan, India, China and Thailand continue to experience alarming labour rights violations. Read more…
June 7th, 2010
Workers: Sweating For The Olympics
UK national speaker tour, 6-11 June 2010
London, 7 June 17.30-19.00 (TUC/Labour Behind the Label event)
Council Chamber, TUC, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS http://www.tuc.org.uk/the_tuc/about_contact.cfm
Speakers:
Lilis Mahmudah, NEC member, Serikat Pekerja Nasional (Textile and Garment Trade Union), Indonesia
Frances O’ Grady, Deputy General Secretary, TUC
Doug Miller, Professor in Ethical Fashion, University of Northumbria.
Followed by Q&As
RSVP with full name to Sharon Sukhram Free admission DOWNLOAD FLYER
London, 8 June 18.00-20.30 (NUJ/TUC journalist event)
Room 4, TUC, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS http://www.tuc.org.uk/the_tuc/about_contact.cfm
Speakers:
Lilis Mahmudah, NEC member, Serikat Pekerja Nasional (Textile and Garment Trade Union), Indonesia
Michelle Stanistreet, Deputy General Secretary, NUJ
Sharon Sukhram, Playfair 2012 Campaign Co-ordinator, TUC
Followed by Q&As and interviews with Lilis Mahmudah (through an interpreter)
RSVP with full name to Pat Brown Free admission DOWNLOAD FLYER
East Midlands, 9 June, 14.00-15.30, Community, TUC and Labour Behind the Label event
Venue: Teversal Visitors Centre, Carnarvon Street, Teversal, Sutton – in – Ashfield, Notts, NG17 3HJ http://www.teversaltrails.com/find.htm
Speakers:
Tracy Clarke, NEC member, Community
Lilis Mahmudah, NEC member, Serikat Pekerja Nasional (Textile and Garment Trade Union), Indonesia
Sharon Sukhram, Playfair 2012 Campaign Co-ordinator, TUC
RSVP with full name to Ginny Pope Free Admission DOWNLOAD FLYER
Newcastle, 10 June 17.30-19.00 (PCS, UNISON, ITGLWF, TUC event)
TUC, 5th Floor, Commercial Union House, 39 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6QE http://www.tuc.org.uk/tuc/regions_info_northern.cfm
Lilis Mahmudah, NEC member, Serikat Pekerja Nasional (Textile and Garment Trade Union), Indonesia
Doug Miller, Professor in Ethical Fashion, University of Northumbria
Sharon Sukhram, Playfair 2012 Campaign Co-ordinator, TUC
Followed by Q&As
RSVP with full name to Melanie Lowden Free admission DOWNLOAD FLYER
Scotland, 11 June 12.30-14.00
STUC Centre, 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow G3 6NG
http://www.stuc.org.uk/contact
Lilis Mahmudah NEC member, Serikat Pekerja Nasional (Textile and Garment Trade Union), Indonesia
Dave Moxham, Deputy General Secretary, STUC
Sharon Sukhram, Playfair 2012 Campaign Co-ordinator, TUC
Ashling Seely, Policy Assistant to the General Secretary, International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation
Followed by Q&As
RSVP with full name to Sandra Walker Free admission DOWNLOAD FLYER
The Olympics is a multi-million dollar industry, yet most workers producing sportswear and Olympic souvenirs for sale on our high streets continue to be paid poverty wages and work in degrading conditions. Playfair found 12-year-old child workers, adults earning 14p an hour, and employees made to work up to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, producing Olympic merchandise.
But it shouldn’t be this way. It’s time for the organisers of the London Games, the sportswear industry and the International Olympic Committee to take responsibility for the working conditions in the global supply chains producing these goods.
As workers, trade unionists, students and consumers, we are linked to the millions of workers employed in these supply chains. Acting together, we have the power to bring about change and demand that London 2012 is the first ethical Olympics – providing Decent Work and dignity for all.
Find out more about the issues facing workers employed in supply chains producing sportswear and Olympic merchandise. Discover how you can get involved in the Playfair 2012 campaign and make a real difference to the lives of millions of mainly female workers, who help to make the Olympics possible.
Playfair 2012 is supported by:
Anti-Slavery International; ATL, ASLEF, BECTU, Community, CWU, EIS, GMB, ITGLWF, NASUWT, NUJ, NUS, NUT, PCS, People and Planet, Prospect, PFA, STUC, UCATT, UNISON, Unite and War on Want.
BE INSPIRED TO DEMAND THAT LONDON 2012 DELIVERS DECENT WORK FOR ALL
May 12th, 2010
Playfair 2012 launches campaign for an ethical London Olympics
As the Olympic torch is handed on from this year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver to London, the Playfair 2012 coalition is today (Saturday) launching a campaign for an ethical London Games.
February 27th, 2010
VIDEO: Race to the Bottom
Unfortunately, Olympic skiers aren’t the only ones in a race to the bottom…
TORONTO, CANADA – In the run-up to the February Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, an international coalition of worker rights organizations is releasing its rating of commitments made by major sportswear brands to eliminate sweatshop abuses in their global supply chains. The ratings are based on the responses of the sportswear companies, including Nike, adidas, Puma and others, to a series of demands put forward by the coalition on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
February 24th, 2010
VIDEO: PlayFair – from Vancouver to London
Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress speaks about the importance of workers’ rights also when it comes to the Olympic Games.
February 24th, 2010
Catch the flame
With the official Olympic Torch Relay for the Beijin
g Olympics well on its way, Play Fair 2008 have launched “Catch the Flame”, an electronic relay race to bring public attention to the need for the Olympics movement to stamp out abuses of labour standards in workplaces making Olympics goods.
Help the torch around the globe to it’s final destination of Beijing by visiting the “Catch the Flame” website
March 27th, 2008