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Offside! update

These women work at the Panarub factory in Indonesia which produces football boots for adidas. Hera (third from left) and Neneng (second from left) are among the union leaders who were dismissed from the factory for participating in a strike in late 2005. Photo: Tim Connor/OxfamAUS.

Correspondence between sports brands and Oxfam Australia about Offside! report recommendations

On 23 January 2008, Oxfam Australia Executive Director Andrew Hewett wrote to the executive directors of 10 sports brands. He asked them to outline their progress on the major recommendations in the Offside! report (published in May 2006) and how they were solving the outstanding issues of workers’ labour rights in their supply chains. Attached to Andrew's letter were hundreds of messages from people around the world saying that the treatment of workers making sporting goods in Asia is unacceptable and that a change in companies’ practices is needed.

Here’s what we think about the responses we received from each of the brands. You can also follow the links to read the full responses.

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adidas

adidas bought Reebok in 2007. For this reason, we sent all the messages addressed to Reebok to adidas. 1,690 messages were sent in total from people around the world who want adidas to change its practices.

adidas responsed to all nine recommendations. However, apart from releasing its global supplier list in 2007 – which was an important step forward in transparency – adidas has yet to concretely show how it is making progress to respect workers' trade union and other labour rights. Read our full comment on adidas's letter

Asics

Asics did not respond to all of the recommendations, but mentioned it is focused on long-term business relationships with factories. Asics did not outline what a long-term business relationship with its supplier factories entailed or whether there was a written commitment to stay with factories to build a stable business relationship. While Asics decided not to place production in Burma where the right to freedom of association does not have legal force, it should consider extending this principle to other countries where this right is not legally protected.

In a 2007 presentation, Asics admitted that its factory audit uncovered non-compliance issues, including workers being paid less than the minimum wage, forced overtime and a lack of health and safety. Asics indicated it would set up an Asics hotline in reaction to worker grievances. We look forward to Asics implementing this promise and ensuring that the hotline is confidential and accessible to all workers in its supply chain. In its long-term planning to 2010, Asics has undertaken to provide education for contractors (agents and factories) on constructing a complaint channel. We recommend Asics provides independent education and training for workers concerning their rights at work. We urge Asics to follow up on the remainder of our recommendations.

Lotto

Lotto Sport Italia claims its attention to labour rights is very high. Lotto did not, however, respond to any of the major recommendations which we believe are necessary to prevent violations of workers’ human rights.

Mizuno

Mizuno did not respond to the major recommendations but has indicated that it will be addressing the recommendations in discussions with the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation. Beginning to discuss these recommendations is a good step but we will wait to see if these discussions translate into concrete progress and improvement for workers' rights.

New Balance

New Balance has not yet responded to our letter.

Nike

Nike has not yet responded to our letter.

Pentland

We took the opportunity to raise some of the Offside! recommendations as part of a meeting with Pentland in 2007. At this meeting Pentland did not offer any information about how the company is progressing any of the major recommendations from the Offside! report. Furthermore, Pentland claims that many of the "demands" are outside its competence.

Puma

Puma responded to all nine recommendations. Overall Puma appears to be making some effort towards the improvement of workers’ rights in its supplier factories. However, there are still significant gaps in the realisation of worker rights across its supply chain. Read our full comment on Puma's letter

Umbro (now owned by Nike)

In this brief letter, Umbro has offered no response to our major recommendations, apart from asking that we "explore opportunities to improve our [Umbro's] ethical sourcing practices in a sustainable way". On the invitation of Umbro to explore these possibilities, we are willing to provide Umbro with solutions to help make their purchasing practices ethical and sustainable.