From London 2012

To ensure the London Olympics provides Decent Work for all, Playfair 2012 has asked the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, to take a number of actions, these include:

• Contracts between the London organisers and sponsors of the Games, such as Adidas; and suppliers of Olympic goods must include obligations to meet internationally recognised labour standards.
• Factory supplier locations and audit results be disclosed.
• If workers’ rights are violated, there should be a procedure which enables workers to make a complaint and for this be dealt with. This should involve trade unions and local labour rights organisations.

The London organisers have been in discussion with Playfair 2012 regarding the campaign’s demands. They have agreed to include the labour standards in the Ethical Trading Initiative base code in their contracts with suppliers. But they still need to make clear commitments about how this will be put into practice. And on other campaign demands, we want them to go much further.

“I make around 20 yuan*per day. We have to keep track of our own output, so we can verify our numbers with the company’s to make sure they pay us the right amount at the end for the month.”

(*approx £1.88. Worker making Olympic branded bags for Beijing 2008, Yue Wing Cheong Light Products, China)

In more depth: Olympics and workers’ rights: the story so far