August 2 (Washington) – The International agency Oxfam and the AFL-CIO today expressed their support for H.R. 4988, the “Play Fair at the Olympics Act,” introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), senior Democrat on the Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. George Miller (D-CA), senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee.

The “Play Fair at the Olympics Act” would instruct the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to require companies that obtain Olympics licenses to observe international labor standards.

“Going for the gold is not always about an athlete trying to win a medal at the Olympics. It’s also about multibillion dollar companies using whatever means necessary to fatten their bottom line, while their workers suffer and have their basic human rights routinely violated,” Rep. Schakowsky said. “The Play Fair at the Olympics Bill will level the playing field because workers have finished last in the international labor market for far too long.”

"Our bill says that no matter where products with the U.S. Olympic logo are made, the fundamental human rights of the workers making those products must be respected,” said Rep. Miller. “Just as we expect fair play from our Olympic athletes, the Olympic gear our athletes use should be made under fair conditions."

The bill would also oblige the committee to publish the names of all companies that produce goods under a USOC license, as well as set up a fund for the investigation and arbitration of alleged worker rights violations in facilities operated by those companies.

"Americans want to know that the workers who make the clothes we buy are treated fairly,” said John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO. “Some of the most high-profile clothing companies in the U.S. are starting to take this seriously, but not the Olympic Committee. The Olympic Committees around the world earn hundreds of millions of dollars by selling the Olympics logo to companies. This bill will ensure that the business people at the Olympics and the companies they deal with will do their part to stop sweatshop abuses of workers."

Oxfam and the AFL-CIO are coordinating the US activities for the Play Fair at the Olympics campaign, part of an international effort to push the Olympics movement to address the problem of workers’ rights violations that occur in factories that produce goods that bear the Olympics logo.

Concerned citizens can visit an online petition page (ga0.org/campaign/play_usoc) on Oxfam’s campaign web site to send a free message asking Peter Ueberroth, Chair of the USOC, to support the Play Fair Act and protect sportswear workers’ rights.

“The Olympics is about achieving human potential, yet millions of workers worldwide are unable to reach their potential because they work under abysmal conditions producing Olympics goods,” said Katherine Daniels, Trade Policy Advisor at Oxfam. “The US Olympic Committee should support this bill to demonstrate its commitment to upholding the Olympic ideals.”

A report released earlier this spring (available at www.fairolympics.org) details incidents of worker rights violations, such as verbal and sexual harassment, threats and firing for organizing and joining trade unions, and forced overtime without pay in factories producing for sportswear brands such as Fila, Umbro, Puma, and Asics.

Oxfam has also set up a website (www.playbytherules.org), where the US public can take specific actions in support of the campaign, such as sending an online postcard urging companies like Fila to do their part in ensuring their purchasing practices do not lead to the exploitation of workers.

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