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Article

26 May 2007

Author:
Jonathan Birchall, Financial Times

Nike to resume football production in Pakistan

Nike, the official supplier of soccer balls to the English Premier Football League, is to resume making hand-stitched leather balls in Pakistan, six months after it stopped production there amid child-labour concerns...The new contract [with Silver Star] requires the new supplier to use only registered full-time employees paid hourly wages to work on its premises, rather than piece work. It also stipulates that its workers be able to form or join trade unions. However, the initial contract is for a fifth of the volume of balls originally produced for Nike by Saga, although Nike says it will buy more as Silver Star's capacity develops. Ineke Zeldenrust, a labour rights advocate at the Clean Clothes Campaign, said Nike needed to "provide the prices and volume and long-term relationship" to support the new contractor, and that the impact of its efforts on the rest of the sector depended on the involvement of other brands. [also refers to Adidas]