7 March, 2012In response to evidence of exploitation of workers producing goods for London 2012 Olympics, detailed in the new Playfair report "Toying with Workers' Rights", the organizers of the London 2012 Olympics signed an agreement with the Playfair 2012 campaign to protect the rights of workers in its supply chains.
GLOBAL: The London Organising Committee of Olympic Games (LOCOG) signed a ground-breaking agreement with the Playfair 2012 campaign to protect the rights of workers in its supply chains in response to a Playfair report called "Toying with Workers' Rights".
The Playfair report investigated working conditions in two factories in China producing the Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Manderville, and London 2012 pin-badges. Researchers working undercover in the factory found a number of violations on workers' rights, such as poverty pay, excessive overtime, child labour, unfair contracts, lack of health and safety training, prohibition from joining unions and evidence of audit fraud. The report identified a number of violations which can be found in more detail here.
The agreement signed between the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on behalf of the Playfair 2012 campaign and LOCOG commits the organizers to taking concrete steps to protect workers' rights. These steps are based on the Playfair 2012 campaign demands which include:
- Making public the names and locations of the factories in China and the United Kingdom covering 72 per cent of the licensed products produced for London 2012, with a focus on licensees with production remaining.
- Making information about employment rights based on national laws and on LOCOG's ethical code available in Chinese and English, and establishing a Chinese language hotline so that workers can complain if their rights are being violated.
- Providing training for workers in Olympic supply chains to make them more aware of their rights.
- A commitment to work with Playfair 2012, the organisers of Rio 2016 and the International Olympic Committee to ensure that future Games benefit from the lessons learned.
LOCOG's actions to put the steps in the agreement into practice will be key to delivering real improvements in conditions for workers in the factories producing goods for London 2012.