Guest Comments by Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM)

HONG KONG -- The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) expects 86-million British pounds from the sales of London 2012 merchandise. Most such products involve the official mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville, and the British team mascot, Pride-the-Lion.

In 2008, LOCOG issued sustainable, ethical sourcing codes aiming to ensure that all products associated with it are produced under internationally acceptable social standards. On labor practices, the codes refer to provisions of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Base Code, which spells out that workers should receive at least the minimum wage as specified in their national legal standards and have a contract defining terms of employment and payment. The ETI Code prohibits punitive fines and excessive working hours.

Regrettably, LOCOG has issued no lists detailing the firms that supply goods to the licensees. There have been no reports on compliance by these suppliers. Consumers remain in the dark about conditions in which the goods are produced.

In 2011, the Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) investigated the Yancheng Rainbow Arts and Crafts Co, a maker of Wenlock, Mandeville and Pride-the-Lion goods in Dafeng City, China. This revealed many violations of workers' rights, including:
-- Workers told to lie to auditors on factory inspections;
-- No labour contracts given to workers;
-- The factory failing to pay basic salaries;
-- Workers not knowing about the piece rate before production;
-- Overtime premiums not paid consistent with legal standards;
-- Sewing workers with muscle fatigue from repetitive work and cloth-cutting workers standing for entire days; and
-- Workers without paid maternity leave.

“The quality control for Olympic products is demanding. It's very difficult to produce the mascots. There cannot be any flaws. Although they are Olympic products, the unit price is lower than for other products. I'm not proud of making the mascots at all,” said one sewing worker.

It's disappointing that such effort goes into quality control, but not into protecting labor rights. LOCOG should enforce its own sourcing codes. At present, those codes are merely pieces of paper. Toward LOCOG's proclaimed goal to respect labor rights, it should:
-- publish a full list of the suppliers to its license holders;
-- conduct and publicize selective investigations at the licensees' suppliers to examine compliance; and
-- work with licensees on remedial actions in any factories where rights violations are found.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should establish a policy to prevent labor-rights violations by suppliers of Olympic products. SACOM also urges the IOC to:
-- adopt a conduct code for suppliers that highlights living wages, freedom of association and the right to remedy; and
-- require the licensees to ensure that every worker at every supplier receives a copy of this code.


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