Olympic partner pays poverty wages
Adidas factories in Bangladesh accused of paying poverty wages
The ‘official sportswear partner’ of the London Olympics has been accused of paying poverty wages. Adidas factories in Bangladesh employ people paid just nine pence an hour, according to a report by War on Want. This is below the legal minimum wage in the country.
In one factory making baseball caps for Adidas, researchers found that eighty per cent of the workers they interviewed had been verbally abused. Around forty per cent had been physically pushed by their managers. One in five worked over ninety hours per week.
The London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympics and Paralympic Games requires Adidas to uphold ethical standards at factories producing branded goods for the Games. The company are not required to adhere to the same principles for their other products.
‘If the London 2012 organisers are serious about improving lives across the world they must demand that their official partners respect basic human rights,’ said Murray Worthy of War on Want.
