No Olympics sweatshops!
When the International Olympic Committee visited London recently, War on Want and other members of the Playfair 2012 campaign were there to greet them.
We challenged them to take responsibility for ensuring that the London Olympics will be sweatshop free. Without a change in their rules, it is virtually certain that the sports clothes and merchandising for the Games will be made in factories that underpay their workers, make them work overtime and forbid them from forming unions to fight for better conditions.
And when two TV crews turned up, they quickly rushed out to say they were happy to meet with us!
Playfair, which includes a host of British and international trade unions, will continue to press them to live up to the Olympic ideals and put in place new regulations for the companies that supply goods for the Olympics. We’ve got more actions planned as we get closer to Games and we’ll be taking the message out to festivals and other events this summer, so watch this space…
Take Action
In the meantime, you can take action and help spread the word by ordering some of our campaign cards from yan@waronwant.org or by emailing three of the biggest Olympic suppliers: Nike, Adidas and Pentland
All pictures copyright Jess Hurd
