Athens Olympic, the biggest sports event of the world, is going to begin in August 2004. Besides athletes, sportspersons and sports enthusiasts across the globe it has invaluable contribution of millions of working hands who have worked relentlessly behind the scene for making it a successful event. An inseparable part of this multitude is workers employed in garment and sportswear industry – the people who dress this mega event - all its participants and all its audience.
They work harder, longer, for lower than minimum wages, under unsafe working conditions without any social security cover and are refused even the right to organise themselves. These workers are unable to capture the spirit of Olympics though they toil for it.
Major trade unions of India: AITUC, CITU, HMS, INTUC, UTUC, AICCTU and NTUI and labour support organisations: CEC, CIVIDEP and SAVE have come together to organise Play fair at the Olympics: India Campaign to highlight these very rights of the workers in the garment and sportswear industry. The campaign envisions raising societal consciousness on the rights of workers in this industry.
It is a part of the global Play Fair at the Olympics campaign launched by Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), Oxfam International (OI) and Global Unions, bringing together trade unions and labour rights organisations all over the world. The Asian campaign has identified the empowerment of workers as the most important and effective vehicle in improving working conditions and wage level in garment industry in Asia. Therefore the Campaign in Asia focuses on maximisation of workers’ involvement to push multinational buyers and retailers and manufacturers to improve working conditions and wages in the garment and sportswear industry in Asia.
Releasing an appeal on the conditions of workers in the garment and sportswear industry, at a press conference today, organisers of the campaign declared that they demand that: a) Rights of the workers to organise, living wage, social security, legal working hours and safe working conditions should be protected by the government and the employers. They urged the government to strengthen the enforcement mechanisms and bring all workers in the garment and sportswear industry under the legislative framework. b) A mechanism should be devised to establish the corporate social accountability of the principle buyer/retailer. Purchasing practices of brands and buyers that encourage suppliers to adopt exploitative employment conditions should be checked c) Institutional mechanisms like an all India Board for Garment Workers is the need of the hour and d) Government should evolve a procurement policy of garments, sportswear and sports goods considering fair labour standards. They stressed that the campaign is not intended against Olympics. Rather, to encourage preference for observance of labour standards, and a consistent and long-term collaboration among various stakeholders. The appeal has been handed over to the Indian Olympic Association as well.
The organisers informed that key components of the Campaign strategy include: a) National Consultation on June 10, 2004 at BTR Bhawan, 13-A Rouse Avenue, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi. This Consultation would coincide with the Olympics Torch passing New Delhi and b) organise a rally that would pass through key garment producing centres: Chennai, Tirupur, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Surat, Ludhiana and New Delhi in the month of July.
They further informed that following the consultation on 10th June about 150 workers of the garment and sportswear industry will assemble at Humayun’s Tomb to spread the message of Play Fair at the Olympics: India Campaign with respect to the rights of workers in the garments and sportswear industry.