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11 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 19/1998
Oil multinational Total has suspended distribution of World Cup '98 footballs bearing its logo, following allegations that they were made by children.
The balls were to have been sold at the company's filling stations across Europe as part of a sales promotion. But a Total spokeswoman told ICEM UPDATE this afternoon that the company has temporarily blocked distribution of the footballs. Pending investigations, it has also suspended its contract with the supplier, Dutch-based Smits Plastics, and has instructed service stations not to sell any of the balls that have already been distributed.
Total is "extremely surprised" by the allegations, the spokeswoman said. Meetings are, she stated, continuing today at the company's headquarters in France to "try to understand what happened." In particular, Total is checking if the footballs shown being made by Pakistani children in recent video footage are, in fact, those that it ordered.
French oil workers' unions affiliated to the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) had asked Total for an urgent explanation of the video scenes, which were subsequently screened on French television.
Total told the unions, FCE-CFDT and Fédéchimie CGTFO, that it had ordered World Cup footballs, intended for a sales promotion, from Smits Plastics. The World Cup organisers have licensed Smits to produce and market footballs bearing the World Cup '98 logo. Total points out that Smits has twice confirmed in writing that no children are engaged in its football production in Sialkot, Pakistan.
Via its French affiliates, the ICEM has received copies of two faxes from Smits Plastics to Total. Both were sent from Smits' offices in Belgium. The first dates from 27 May 1997, when Total was concluding the production contract. This fax states: "The balls are hand-sewn, with checks to ensure that no children are involved." The second fax, dated 19 March 1998, says: "We hereby reconfirm that the 'TOTAL balls' are not manufactured by children." [Both quotes are translations from the original French.]
Total had, its spokeswoman confirmed today, received Smits Plastic's address from Swiss-based ISL Marketing, which is handling licensing deals for the World Cup.
Publicised by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the video material shows young Pakistani children stitching soccer balls bearing the official France '98 World Cup logo. Some also appear to carry the logos of Total and Mastercard and the signature of Brazilian football legend Pele. The children, some working side by side with adults, are believed to receive around 30 US cents each for footballs which sell overseas for up to 75 US dollars.
The video was shot earlier this month by a journalist investigating child labour for the unions. He visited houses and workshops in villages near Sialkot, Pakistan, where most of the world's soccer balls are stitched. In Jarawalli village, he filmed young boys stitching footballs, and interviewed a family of six young girls, aged between 5 and 12. The five-year-old was punching holes in the leather pieces, which are then sewn by her sisters.
Contacted by ICEM UPDATE today, Smits Plastics' office in Belgium again insisted that their footballs are not produced by child labour. The company's plant in Sialkot, Pakistan, employs only adults, a company spokesman said. He also stated that the plant had repeatedly been inspected by the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) as part of a campaign against the use of child labour in Sialkot, which is the centre of the world's soccer ball industry. He did, however, conceed that some production is still sent out to home-based workers, but he repeated that children are not involved.
Smits says there is currently a brisk market for pirated "World Cup" footballs, and suggests that the video footage shows such unlicensed production.
The ICFTU, ICEM and other union internationals are cooperating in a campaign against the exploitation of child labour worldwide.
In fact, football's world governing body FIFA already has an agreement with the international trade union movement to help phase out the use of child labour in football production. The accord is with the ICFTU, the textile and allied workers' international ITGLWF and the FIET union international, whose coverage includes shop workers. To implement the agreement, FIFA and the ILO last year introduced inspection procedures for football production. Union internationals will now be holding new talks with FIFA, to raise concerns that local companies are evading the inspections.
The balls were to have been sold at the company's filling stations across Europe as part of a sales promotion. But a Total spokeswoman told ICEM UPDATE this afternoon that the company has temporarily blocked distribution of the footballs. Pending investigations, it has also suspended its contract with the supplier, Dutch-based Smits Plastics, and has instructed service stations not to sell any of the balls that have already been distributed.
Total is "extremely surprised" by the allegations, the spokeswoman said. Meetings are, she stated, continuing today at the company's headquarters in France to "try to understand what happened." In particular, Total is checking if the footballs shown being made by Pakistani children in recent video footage are, in fact, those that it ordered.
French oil workers' unions affiliated to the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) had asked Total for an urgent explanation of the video scenes, which were subsequently screened on French television.
Total told the unions, FCE-CFDT and Fédéchimie CGTFO, that it had ordered World Cup footballs, intended for a sales promotion, from Smits Plastics. The World Cup organisers have licensed Smits to produce and market footballs bearing the World Cup '98 logo. Total points out that Smits has twice confirmed in writing that no children are engaged in its football production in Sialkot, Pakistan.
Via its French affiliates, the ICEM has received copies of two faxes from Smits Plastics to Total. Both were sent from Smits' offices in Belgium. The first dates from 27 May 1997, when Total was concluding the production contract. This fax states: "The balls are hand-sewn, with checks to ensure that no children are involved." The second fax, dated 19 March 1998, says: "We hereby reconfirm that the 'TOTAL balls' are not manufactured by children." [Both quotes are translations from the original French.]
Total had, its spokeswoman confirmed today, received Smits Plastic's address from Swiss-based ISL Marketing, which is handling licensing deals for the World Cup.
Publicised by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the video material shows young Pakistani children stitching soccer balls bearing the official France '98 World Cup logo. Some also appear to carry the logos of Total and Mastercard and the signature of Brazilian football legend Pele. The children, some working side by side with adults, are believed to receive around 30 US cents each for footballs which sell overseas for up to 75 US dollars.
The video was shot earlier this month by a journalist investigating child labour for the unions. He visited houses and workshops in villages near Sialkot, Pakistan, where most of the world's soccer balls are stitched. In Jarawalli village, he filmed young boys stitching footballs, and interviewed a family of six young girls, aged between 5 and 12. The five-year-old was punching holes in the leather pieces, which are then sewn by her sisters.
Contacted by ICEM UPDATE today, Smits Plastics' office in Belgium again insisted that their footballs are not produced by child labour. The company's plant in Sialkot, Pakistan, employs only adults, a company spokesman said. He also stated that the plant had repeatedly been inspected by the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) as part of a campaign against the use of child labour in Sialkot, which is the centre of the world's soccer ball industry. He did, however, conceed that some production is still sent out to home-based workers, but he repeated that children are not involved.
Smits says there is currently a brisk market for pirated "World Cup" footballs, and suggests that the video footage shows such unlicensed production.
The ICFTU, ICEM and other union internationals are cooperating in a campaign against the exploitation of child labour worldwide.
In fact, football's world governing body FIFA already has an agreement with the international trade union movement to help phase out the use of child labour in football production. The accord is with the ICFTU, the textile and allied workers' international ITGLWF and the FIET union international, whose coverage includes shop workers. To implement the agreement, FIFA and the ILO last year introduced inspection procedures for football production. Union internationals will now be holding new talks with FIFA, to raise concerns that local companies are evading the inspections.