UNITED KINGDOM: Demonstrators call for 2012 Olympics to be free of sweatshop labour goods

Record ID: 329831

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Demonstrators call for 2012 Olympics to be free of sweatshop labour goods
  • Date: 6th April 2011
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 5, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ACTIVISTS HOLDING PLACARDS OUTSIDE LONDON HOTEL WHERE IOC OFFICIALS ARE MEETING WOMAN HOLDING PLACARD READING: "MAKE THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS SWEATSHOP FREE" PLACARD READING: "SWEATSHOP FREE OLYMPICS" VARIOUS OF ACTIVISTS HOLDING PLACARDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR LABOUR BEHIND THE LABEL SAMANTHA MAHER SAYING: "We're campaigning to get the London games to be a sweat-free Olympic Games. We know that for all the previous Olympic games, the people making the merchandise and the sportswear that is sold to the supporters of the games, and to the athletes, have been working in horrendous conditions in sweatshops all over the world. We want to make sure that London 2012 is a sweat-free Olympics and that's why we're here today to call on the International Olympic Committee and the London Games to do everything they can to take responsibility for the workers that make this Olympics happen. PLACARD (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR LABOUR BEHIND THE LABEL SAMANTHA MAHER SAYING: "So the workers that are producing for example the t-shirts that say London 2012 on them, or producing small bags or badges or hats or flags or any of the kind of merchandise that goes along that basically funds the Olympic Games. We know in general they are working in conditions that mean they work incredibly long hours, that they get poverty wages, they suffer from poor health and safety, in some cases they'll be child labour, in some cases there'll be forced labour and we want to make sure that the London Games isn't based on that kind of exploitation." WIDE OF HOTEL WHERE IOC DELEGATES ARE MEETING POLICE SIGN ON VAN READING: "MAKE THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS SWEATSHOP FREE" OLYMPIC FLAG
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom, United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Quirky,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVADAXP7JCXUYRHIX7AEVRHDITRT
  • Story Text: Campaigners and trade unionists called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday (April 5) to ensure that sportswear and merchandise manufactured for the London 2012 Games is not produced in sweatshop conditions.
    The campaigners from the Playfair 2012 coalition of lobby groups held a protest outside the London hotel where IOC members were discussing the London Games.
    Playfair 2012 want the London Games to be the first to ensure that factories producing Olympic goods treat their workers well, said Samantha Maher, a spokesperson for Labour Behind the Label, one of the coalition groups.
    "We want to make sure that London 2012 is a sweat-free Olympics and that's why we're here today to call on the International Olympic Committee and the London Games to do everything they can to take responsibility for the workers that make this Olympics happen," said Maher.
    Maher said that in previous Olympics many of the people around the world producing Olympic sportswear and merchandise worked under dangerous conditions and for low wages.
    "The workers that are producing for example the t-shirts that say London 2012 on them, or producing small bags or badges or hats or flags or any of the kind of merchandise that goes along that basically funds the Olympic Games. We know in general they are working in conditions that mean they work incredibly long hours, that they get poverty wages, they suffer from poor health and safety," said Maher. "In some cases they'll be child labour, in some cases there'll be forced labour and we want to make sure that the London Games isn't based on that kind of exploitation," she added.
    The executive board of the IOC is holding a formal meeting in London.
    Secretary General of the UK's Trade Union Congress (TUC) Brendan Barber will meet IOC officials later and give them letters from trade union members from around the world calling for fair treatment for workers.
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