In July 2011, Greenpeace International initiated the ‘DETOX Campaign’ to drive change in our industry. Greenpeace have been calling for the zero discharge of all hazardous and persistent chemicals at all points in global supply chains: from the cotton fields, to the mills and dye houses that make the fabric and the garment production....

In July 2011, Greenpeace International initiated the ‘DETOX Campaign’ to drive change in our industry. Greenpeace have been calling for the zero discharge of all hazardous and persistent chemicals at all points in global supply chains: from the cotton fields, to the mills and dye houses that make the fabric and the garment production. Greenpeace has directed its campaign primarily towards sporting goods companies and well known apparel brands in the belief that they can act as a catalyst for change for the whole industry. As part of their campaign Greenpeace demanded that targeted companies publish a formal commitment to support the goal of ‘zero discharge’ and issue an individual roadmap specifying timelines and steps to meet this goal.

From the outset, the adidas Group entered into an in-depth engagement process with Greenpeace. We publicly committed to support Greenpeace’s goal, but also stressed the fact that the management of chemicals in multi-tiered supply chains is a complex challenge, requiring many actors to play a role in achieving effective and sustainable solutions. In other words, that the change needed is of a scale that cannot be delivered by a single brand, acting alone.

We therefore reached out and partnered with a group of like-minded brands – C&A, H&M, Li Ning, Nike Inc. and PUMA – to meet Greenpeace’s challenge. This coalition of brands has worked closely together to develop a comprehensive roadmap on how best to achieve zero discharge in our supply chains. In creating this roadmap we have engaged with experts from the chemical industry and with other brands. In November 2011, we took this a step further and issued a ’Joint Roadmap Toward Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals’ for formal consultation, engaging with key NGOs, industry groups and other businesses internationally, to solicit feedback and ideas on the best way to achieve our extremely ambitious goal.

Our vision is that the roadmap serves as a benchmark and that many more brands and other stakeholders will join us in our efforts. We firmly believe that collaboration is the key to success.

See the Joint Roadmap, as well as the adidas Group’s individual Roadmap.

In March 2011, Sri Lanka’s garment industry, representatives from global brands, trade unions, a supplier and the Ministry of Labour came together to agree on how to work on ways to improve conditions for workers. The meeting was organised by the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union (FTZ & GSEU) with the support of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF). The adidas Group was one of four sports and leisurewear brands that participated in the meeting....

In March 2011, Sri Lanka’s garment industry, representatives from global brands, trade unions, a supplier and the Ministry of Labour came together to agree on how to work on ways to improve conditions for workers. The meeting was organised by the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union (FTZ & GSEU) with the support of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF). The adidas Group was one of four sports and leisurewear brands that participated in the meeting.

The Ceylon Mercantile Industrial & General Workers' Union (CMU) noted a general lack of respect for workers’ rights to freedom of association as evidenced by the small number of factories that have trade union members within the country’s economic processing zones (EPZs). The CMU also highlighted the fact that most of the factories surveyed within these zones had formed employment councils (ECs), although in some cases the older joint consultative committee (JCC) system was still in place. It was stressed that the Sri Lankan authorities have continued to recognise ECs as a legitimate form of worker representation, thereby inhibiting the formation of unions. The exceptionally high threshold needed – 40% of an enterprise’s workforce – has also acted as a barrier to the formation of trade unions.

As a result of the March 2011 dialogue, the adidas Group wrote to its Sri Lankan suppliers, to outline our expectations in safeguarding workers’ freedom of association and to clarify our views on the role and function of employment councils. The adidas Group is not opposed to the presence of employee councils, or joint consultative committees, so long as they do not restrict the legitimate right of workers to join or form a trade union of their own choosing. We stressed that where workers’ rights are infringed, we would take the necessary enforcement action under our Workplace Standards.

A follow-up meeting with trade unions, suppliers and government is scheduled for early 2012.

See a summary of the workshop and related research on working conditions.

The Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights (formerly the National Labor Committee) published a report in January 2011, alleging several breaches of labour and health and safety standards at the Ocean Sky factory in El Salvador, which makes NFL shirts for Reebok. The independent monitor Coverco completed their investigation at Ocean Sky in mid-March 2011. The team identified a number of non-compliant issues and risks for non-compliant activities, including proper procedures for payment of wages, harassment of workers, overtime requirements and high temperatures in work areas....

The Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights (formerly the National Labor Committee) published a report in January 2011, alleging several breaches of labour and health and safety standards at the Ocean Sky factory in El Salvador, which makes NFL shirts for Reebok. The independent monitor Coverco completed their investigation at Ocean Sky in mid-March 2011. The team identified a number of non-compliant issues and risks for non-compliant activities, including proper procedures for payment of wages, harassment of workers, overtime requirements and high temperatures in work areas.

The Fair Labor Association (FLA) staff, representatives of the brands, and Ocean Sky management held several meetings to develop a remediation plan that defined short- and long-term corrective actions for sustainable improvements in the workplace. Ocean Sky has already implemented many of these corrective actions, and a supportive consultation has started with the Salvadoran women’s rights organisation Mujeres Transformando.

During the Coverco investigation, the FLA, Ocean Sky and the factory's buyers agreed to commission a technical group to investigate the drinking water quality and potability. That investigation was conducted by the Department of Process Engineering and Environmental Sciences of the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA). It did not identify evidence of bacterium for gastrointestinal diseases but it did recommend developing a water safety plan that will improve the maintenance of drinking water treatment devices and drinking stations, as well as steps to attain full compliance with all national threshold values for water quality. The Department of Process Engineering and Environmental Sciences continues to monitor remediation and water quality at the factory.

To see the full details of the Coverco investigation and findings, the water safety plan, the remediation and corrective action plan as well as the FLA’s statement and summary of the Ocean Sky case, please visit the FLA’s website.

Many of the allegations made in the January 2011 report had been uncovered by previous adidas Group audits, carried out between 2008 and 2010. They had been addressed by Ocean Sky in the past, but recurred due to unsustainable remediation. We believe that the recent investigation has engaged the factory management, multiple buyers and local civil society to build collaborative and sustainable corrective actions.

In June 2011, a major strike took place over a six-day period at Pou Yuen Vietnam (PYV), which makes shoes for a number of brands, including the adidas Group. The factory, with some 90,000 employees, is one of the largest manufacturers in the country. In July, Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM), a Hong Kong-based labour rights organisation called on the adidas Group to give a “public account” of the strike and address reports in the press that some 20 former and current workers had been arrested. They asked the adidas Group to use its influence to ensure that workers were freed and that no worker suffered retaliation for their participation in the strike....

In June 2011, a major strike took place over a six-day period at Pou Yuen Vietnam (PYV), which makes shoes for a number of brands, including the adidas Group. The factory, with some 90,000 employees, is one of the largest manufacturers in the country. In July, Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM), a Hong Kong-based labour rights organisation called on the adidas Group to give a “public account” of the strike and address reports in the press that some 20 former and current workers had been arrested. They asked the adidas Group to use its influence to ensure that workers were freed and that no worker suffered retaliation for their participation in the strike.

SACOM issued a public statement, which triggered interest from a range of other NGOs who also expressed a desire for the adidas Group to investigate and report on these allegations. These included the Clean Clothes Campaign, the Worker Rights Consortium and the Committee to Protect Vietnamese Workers (CPVW), a human rights group.

The adidas Group met with senior officials and the Deputy Chief of Police from the Binh Tan District to discuss the rumours of worker arrests. The government officials stated that no arrests had taken place, either during or after the strike. The adidas Group also reached out to workers, to verify the officials’ account of events. Based on the feedback obtained from worker interviews, it was concluded that the arrests were rumours not facts. It was also concluded that workers had not been subject to retaliation, either by the factory or the government. This, however, was disputed by CPVW, who stated that their own enquiries had identified a worker by the name of Thao who was reportedly dismissed from the PYV plant making products for adidas, due to her involvement in the strike.

The adidas Group conducted a further round of investigations, including a comprehensive review of two months of disciplinary and terminations records, but could find no evidence of a person by the name of Thao having been dismissed for participating in the strike. Without other particulars, such as the ID card number or a contact address for the person named, it was not possible to validate CPVW’s claims. Our findings were shared with CPVW.

As one of the fastest-growing sourcing countries in Asia, the adidas Group has witnessed steady progress and improvement in the workplace conditions in Indonesia. Nevertheless, we acknowledge and accept that our suppliers continue to face challenges as they strive to meet our Workplace Standards, as well as international NGO expectations....

As one of the fastest-growing sourcing countries in Asia, the adidas Group has witnessed steady progress and improvement in the workplace conditions in Indonesia. Nevertheless, we acknowledge and accept that our suppliers continue to face challenges as they strive to meet our Workplace Standards, as well as international NGO expectations.

One area where we have engaged deeply with organisations such as Oxfam Australia, the ITGLWF, as well as local NGOs and unions, has been in the development of a Freedom of Association Protocol for Indonesia. The adidas Group acted as the lead party in a supplier-brand caucus that was formed in 2010 to engage with Indonesia’s trade union movement, to develop a basic framework for the exercise of trade union rights in the workplace. After one and a half years of back-and-forth negotiations, agreement was finally reached and a protocol was shared with other brands and suppliers in the sporting goods industry. A formal signing of the protocol took place in Jakarta in June 2011. The event was heralded by the international labour rights movement as an “historic pact” between sportswear brands, suppliers and trade unions.

We are hopeful that the protocol will set an important benchmark for suppliers and its provisions will close the gap in expectations and reduce misunderstandings between factory managers and trade union officials with respect to trade union activities, rights of access and so on, thereby improving the overall industrial relations environment. As part of our commitment to the FOA protocol, we have encouraged all of our suppliers to sign on to and agree to implement its requirements. In the latter half of 2011, the adidas Group was also active in promoting the adoption of the protocol among other international buyers sourcing from Indonesia.

See an English language version of the protocol.

Early in 2011, PT Kizone, an Indonesian apparel factory, suddenly closed due to financial insolvency. In response to the closure the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) wrote to the adidas Group, asking that we compel the factory owner to pay the workers the severance owed to them, or seek to compel our agent to do so, or, failing that, to pay the workers directly. At the time of the closure it was estimated that workers were entitled to some USD 3.3 million in severance....

Early in 2011, PT Kizone, an Indonesian apparel factory, suddenly closed due to financial insolvency. In response to the closure the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) wrote to the adidas Group, asking that we compel the factory owner to pay the workers the severance owed to them, or seek to compel our agent to do so, or, failing that, to pay the workers directly. At the time of the closure it was estimated that workers were entitled to some USD 3.3 million in severance.

We explained to the WRC that the factory was previously contracted by our agents, but that the relationship ended in June 2010 and the last orders were shipped in November 2010. The factory closed officially the following year, on 31 March, 2011. We also explained that we would not willingly assume, or accept, liability for the severance owed by the owner of PT Kizone, who had fled the country and could not be traced. Decisions over the final settlement of severance would have to follow the existing laws and be managed as a bankruptcy.

We acknowledged however that the former PT Kizone workers and their families were now facing a very uncertain future and rather than waiting for the outcome of a protracted bankruptcy case, their first priority would be to secure another job. The adidas Group therefore reached out to its existing apparel suppliers to encourage them to consider workers from PT Kizone for any suitable job openings. We also engaged a local NGO to help support former PT Kizone workers with job placement.

The PT Kizone case was the most recent in a string of closures where foreign owners, rather than meet their fiduciary duties and responsibilities to their employees, had chosen instead to flee the country. The adidas Group followed up by writing to and then meeting with the Minister of Trade for Indonesia to draw the government’s attention to this malpractice and to ask that the government take steps to prevent similar incidents occurring in the future.