ITGLWF report slams factory conditions in Asia
The Brussels-based International Textile Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) has released a report on working conditions in Asian sportswear supply chains, based on research carried out in late 2010.
Patrick Itschert, general secretary of the ITGLWF said: “This report highlights how factories supplying multinational sports and garment brands, many of whom will be kitting out teams for the London 2012 Olympics, are routinely breaking every rule in the book when it comes to labour rights”.
The report focuses on conditions in 83 factories in Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia which together employ over 100,000 workers.
Through worker interviews and surveys researchers uncovered a number of workers’ rights abuses. None of the 83 factories surveyed was reported to pay a living wage. Some factories did not pay workers the legal minimum wage.
International labour standards restrict overtime to twelve hours a week on a voluntary basis; however workers told researchers they regularly work up to 100 hours of overtime per month.
Contract, agency and other precarious workers, who comprised 25% of the workforces covered, were found to be particularly likely to suffer exploitation.
Mr Itschert said: “The multinational companies sourcing from these factories need to live up to their rhetoric and ensure that every single workplace in their supply chains complies with national law and international labour standards”.
