Labor Issues Persist Over Licensed Olympics Products

One of hundreds of stores around China selling licensed products for the Beijing Olympics. (ATR) Beijing Olympic organizers vow to cancel the contracts of any firms that seriously breach labor laws in the manufacture of merchandise for the Games. A new report on labor practices by makers of Olympic licensed products has found "gross violations of basic labor standards" at some factories in China.

Speaking to reporters in Hong Kong, BOCOG vice president Jiang Xiaoyu says actions will be taken "to protect the reputation of the Olympic movement and the Beijing Olympic Games".

BOCOG confirms that four firms listed in the report by the PlayFair 2008 campaign were licensed to make official products for the Games.

The PlayFair 2008 report highlighted problems including “adult wages at half the legal minimum, employment of workers as young as 12 years old, excessive working hours, unsafe conditions, and a lack of means for workers to defend their rights”.

BOCOG said in a statement that it held all licensed firms to "strict regulations and obligations".

"The companies have both administrative and social responsibilities" and BOCOG would "seriously deal" with any problems under the terms of their contracts.

"If the problem is serious, BOCOG will cancel their qualification for franchise production," it said.

This is the second edition of the PlayFair report, which debuted in advance of the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

"Licensing of the Olympics brand is a major source of income for the IOC and national Olympics committees, and it brings shame on the whole Olympics movement that such severe violations of international labor standards are taking place in Olympics-licensed factories," Guy Ryder,

General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation,BOCOG vice president Jiang Xiaoyu says action will be taken against firms that violate labor standards. (ATR)one of the main backers of the campaign, said in a statement.

Beijing 2008 aims to earn a record 70 million dollars from Olympic marketing programs, including 50 million dollars from sales of Olympic products and 20 million dollars from coins and stamps, BOCOG marketing director Yuan Bin said in March.

“The IOC is committed to being a socially responsible leader of the Olympic Movement that takes care of the Olympic brand in the best way possible,” says a statement from Lausanne responding to the report.

“It matters to us is that sourcing is done ethically,” says the statement.

The PlayFair 2008 report said researchers had interviewed workers in early 2007 at four southern Chinese factories making licensed bags, headgear, stationery and other products for the Olympics.

It found other labor violations such as forced overtime, workers coerced into lying about wages and conditions to inspectors, and workers required to work 30 days per month.

PlayFair 2008 has lobbied the IOC since the 2004 Athens Games to include labor standards in contracts for Olympic supplies, but it said the IOC had refused to accept its advice.

"The IOC's refusal to ensure internationally recognized core labor standards on freedom of association at Olympic-licensed factories is in direct conflict with the Olympic spirit of fair competition," said Lee Cheuk Yan, the head of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions.

But the IOC says it has been working with two organizations, the Fair Labour Association and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, to influence labor practices along the Olympic products supply chain.

“The IOC does not directly manage and control the production of Olympic-related products across the world – it has to do this by influence, and by creating standards and policies that are an important part of the process and agreed on by everyone involved in staging the Olympic Games,” says the IOC.

As far as licensed products that are produced directly for the IOC, the IOC says close monitoring of the supply process is followed.