Playfair 2012 wants the rights of workers making sportswear and Olympic goods to be respected for London 2012, Brazil 2016 and all future Olympics to come.

For this to happen, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as the main Olympic body, must take responsibility for the conditions in which these products are made. This means finding a long-term solution that will end the abuse and exploitation of workers in these supply chains and deliver Decent Work.

Playfair 2012 is part of the international Playfair 2008 campaign. Our campaign demands to the IOC include:

• Promote the need to end the exploitation and abuse involved in the sportswear and athletic footwear industries, in public.
• Respect for workers’ rights should be an important part of The Olympic Charter and Code of Ethics.
• Contracts with companies that provide goods with the Olympic logo, state that internationally recognised labour standards must be met.

The global Playfair 2008 campaign has worked hard to set up meetings with the IOC. After persistent requests, the IOC met with representatives of the international campaign, but still refuses to take any responsibility for ensuring that the rights of workers making Olympic branded goods are respected, despite the evidence….

“I work from early in the morning until 2am the next day. This happens not just once, but 2 or 3 times a month. I was so exhausted, but I was still required to go to work as usual the next day.”

(13 year-old girl working at Lekit Stationery Stationery c. Ltd, a Taiwanese company based in southern China. Playfair, 2008)

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