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.’
