Puma's unfair play
April 11, 2004 | bengisu yilmazturk
The Olympic charter says it "seeks to create a way of life based on ... respect for universal fundamental ethical principles" yet when the games kick off in Athens this August, millions of workers will have been exploited making branded sportswear for sponsors including Puma, Fila, and Umbro. Oxfam is not happy and it has published a 40-page report that claims "the business practices of major sportswear companies violate both the spirit and the letter of the Charter". It makes for pretty scary reading: sportswear workers are regularly forced to work up to 45 hours overtime a week, paid paltry wages and are forbidden from organising or joining trade unions. "If labour exploitation were an Olympic sport," says Oxfam, "the sportswear giants would be well represented among the medal wi
more: widemedia.com/fashionuk/news/2004/03/29/news000315 (94)
376 impressions - 42,838 clicks
