Philippines: Labour group calls on intl. brands to provide urgent aid for garment workers & protect freedom of association at Sports City
"Sports City workers' demands to Adidas and other brands", 25 June 2020
Workers of the Adidas supplier Sports City conglomerate are asking the brand to mediate in their urgent demands in the light of the grave impact of the covid pandemic on their working and living conditions. Sports City’s factories are located in the Mactan Cebu Economic Zone, employ some 16,000 workers and at present manufactures for Adidas, Under Armour and Lululemon...
1. Aid: Conversion of PhP 2,000 loan provided by Sports City into a grant and additional PhP 2,000 subsidy to workers. This will provide relief to workers who have become indebted due to the no work, no pay policy during the two-month lockdown...
2. Safety committee...
3. Production order: Commitment by Adidas to maintain production orders in Sports City to ensure jobs for workers... Workers...had been told that Adidas wants to relocate production to Cambodia allegedly because of less disruption due to covid...
4. Freedom of association: The provision about Sports City respecting freedom of association in compliance with brand commitment has been deleted in the latest copy of the company rules and regulations... The statement of respect for FOA was previously included... Workers view this as a union busting maneuver by Sports City.