The organizers of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are finally investigating claims of child labor and some other accusations reported by PlayFair.
Jiang Xiaoyu, vice president of Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, which is responsible for issuing licenses to Olympic merchandise manufacturers, said that the use of child labor is illegal and the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee would abide by all laws and regulations, and would punish any manufacturer that violates the regulations. Jiang added that Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee would terminate their contracts with manufacturers that violate its requirements.
Play Fair 2008 is an international campaign taking place in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games to push for respect for workers' rights in the global sporting goods industry. The campaign's new report "No medal for the Olympics on labour rights " reportedly exposes violations of basic labor standards by several Chinese factories supplying goods under license for the Beijing Olympics, including adult wages at half the legal minimum, employment of workers as young as 12 years old, and employees made to work 12-hour shifts seven days a week in unsafe and unhealthy conditions.
The PlayFair 2008 organizations have since the Athens 2004 Games tried to get the International Olympics Committee to put worker rights standards into Olympics supply chain contracts, as set out in the new report, however PlayFair says the IOC has refused to do so.
"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 labour standards are taking place in Olympics-licensed factories" said Guy Ryder, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, a PlayFair 2008 Campaign partner along with the global union Federation the International Textile, Leather and Garment Workers' Federation and the Clean Clothes Campaign.
Prior to publishing the report, PlayFair 2008 says it sent a copy to the IOC at its Lausanne Headquarters, calling again for the IOC to adopt and implement effective mechanisms throughout Olympics licensing and supply contracts to ensure respect for fundamental labour standards. In the previous discussions between PlayFair and the IOC, the IOC rejected the Play Fair proposals, and to date PlayFair says the IOC has no effective mechanism to protect workers being exploited in Olympics-related production.
Playfair exposed totally four Chinese factories, all of which are located in southern China.
