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Nike, the official supplier of hand-stitched soccer balls to the
English Premier Football League, is to buy again from Pakistan.
Last year the company withdrew orders from the manufacturer Saga in Sialkot over labour problems, including the use of children to stitch the footballs. It found Saga was outsourcing the stitching to homes where children were put to work without health and safety controls. Trade unions and other employees had also reported harassment, wrongful dismissal and underpayment.
Saga’s failure to improve work conditions, particularly the use of child labour, led to Nike’s decision. Alan Marks, Nike’s spokesman, said the manufacturer had committed a ‘fundamental breach of trust’. Nike had provided 80 per cent of Saga’s work and the withdrawal caused the loss of an estimated 3,000 jobs.
Nike has now signed a contract with another manufacturer, Silver Star, also in Sialkot, with conditions to protect employees.
The new contract insists that Silver Star employs only registered full-time employees with hourly wages and healthcare and other social benefits, permits them to form or join trade unions and observes the highest international work standards. Silver Star must also gradually introduce automation and mechanization in its manufacturing processes.
The Clean Clothes Campaign said it hoped other companies will follow Nike’s example. Ineke Zeldenrust, a labour rights advocate with the campaign, said: ‘If you want to do this, you need the other brands to be brought into the loop.’
Last year the company withdrew orders from the manufacturer Saga in Sialkot over labour problems, including the use of children to stitch the footballs. It found Saga was outsourcing the stitching to homes where children were put to work without health and safety controls. Trade unions and other employees had also reported harassment, wrongful dismissal and underpayment.
Saga’s failure to improve work conditions, particularly the use of child labour, led to Nike’s decision. Alan Marks, Nike’s spokesman, said the manufacturer had committed a ‘fundamental breach of trust’. Nike had provided 80 per cent of Saga’s work and the withdrawal caused the loss of an estimated 3,000 jobs.
Nike has now signed a contract with another manufacturer, Silver Star, also in Sialkot, with conditions to protect employees.
The new contract insists that Silver Star employs only registered full-time employees with hourly wages and healthcare and other social benefits, permits them to form or join trade unions and observes the highest international work standards. Silver Star must also gradually introduce automation and mechanization in its manufacturing processes.
The Clean Clothes Campaign said it hoped other companies will follow Nike’s example. Ineke Zeldenrust, a labour rights advocate with the campaign, said: ‘If you want to do this, you need the other brands to be brought into the loop.’
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