Not Playing Ball!
2010 FIFA World Cup update: Working Conditions for workers stitching soccer balls are very bad, with many Labour Violations - read more on Mywage South Africa.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup will attract thousands of fans to South Africa – and earn FIFA billions of rands in profit. The cup is also a major business opportunity for the soccer ball industry – for example, at the 2006 World Cup, Adidas increased their revenue by more than US $ 800 million (R8 billion). But not everybody benefits from the beautiful game.
Workers Exploited
Workers in Pakistan, India, China and Thailand have been forced to work long hours for very low pay in unpleasant conditions, stitching soccer balls.
Some workers have had to work for 21 hours a day without a day off for an entire month, others work in venues where there is not enough proper drinking water, no medical care facilities and not even toilets. Gender discrimination is a further problem, with home-based females paid less and facing the threat of being fired if they become pregnant.
These and other findings have been released in a report titled report “Missed the Goal for Workers: the Reality of Soccer Ball Stitchers”, by US-based NGO International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF). The report reveals that workers stitching soccer balls in Pakistan, India, China and Thailand continue to experience alarming labour rights violations. The research also found that child labour still exists in the Pakistani industry as well as in India and China.
Not Playing Fair
According to ITUC Online, the International Trade Union Confederation reports that the Play Fair Alliance has asked FIFA to respond to the report. The alliance consists of the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), ITUC, and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF).
The Play Fair Alliance has previously reported on labour rights violations in the soccer stitching sector, where workers were being paid below the legal minimum wage while working 12 – 13 hour days, and some being paid as little as US $ 0.35 a ball (around R3.50 a ball), completing two to four balls a day to earn a maximum of US $1.40 (or R14) a day.
Thirteen years ago the soccer ball industry signed the “Atlanta Agreement”, committing to clean up the industry. FIFA and other global brands have since been made aware of violations in the industry. But it would seem that the labour violations are ongoing.
Working Conditions "Shocking"
“It is shocking that after all of these years, low wages and other labour rights violations are still the norm and not the exception in the industry,” commented Ineke Zeldenrust from the Clean Clothes Campaign. “As fans worldwide get excited about the games, the public expects FIFA and the soccer ball industry to finally live up to its promises.”
The Play Fair Alliance has called on FIFA and the soccer ball industry to take immediate action to address the issues of extremely low wages, the growth of temporary workers, and the lack of civil society engagement in working to improve conditions for the very workers that produce the balls at the centre of the FIFA 2010 World Cup games.
Find out more about the Cost of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
