Who makes the Olympic badges?

This post is taken from Playfair 2012. The writer based this information on their report "Toying with Workers’ Rights" (Play Fair, 2012)

The Olympic movement states that it aims to “build a better world through sport”, but for  workers making the Olympic mascots and London 2012 pin badges, this translates into poverty pay, long hours and poor health and safety.

Wang, 29 years old, works in a factory which made London 2012 pin badges for Olympic licensee, Honav. He lives with his wife in a small rented room outside the factory where he works.

Workers like Wang, who were making London 2012 pin badges in China, could be paid as little as 64 pence an hour. Wang would have to work for around 10 hours just to afford to buy 1 pin badge, which retails in the UK for around £6.50.

On their low wages, Wang and his wife can’t afford for their son to live with them, so he stays with Wang’s mother in their home village. They only get to visit their son once a year at Chinese New Year.
“Sometimes I buy a lottery ticket and hope I get some luck.” says Wang.

Zhang, 28 years-old, works in a factory making Olympic mascots Manderville and Wenlock for licensee Golden Bear. She’s paid a piece rate, and her basic pay can be around £170 a month, for a 40-hour working week. And yet, a wage that allows Zhang and others working in this area of China to cover their basic needs and have some extra, is estimated at around £225 a month.

 “I hope the Olympic Games Committee can tell us how much a plush toy is sold for and gives us a fair unit price.” says Zhang.

Zhang sends most of her wages home to her family in her home village, where her two children live. On her days off she stays in her room to avoid spending money, and during peak season, she does two to four hours overtime a day to top up her low pay.

In the factory where she worked, some workers were not even being paid the legal minimum wage, and temporary workers in both factories were paid below the legal rates.

Under Chinese law, workers are entitled to social insurance benefits, including pensions, work-related injury insurance and medical insurance. In the factory making pin badges, many workers thought that they were protected by social insurance, but investigations revealed that only a small proportion of workers were enrolled on the scheme. Workers under 30 years-old making the Olympic mascots were being discriminated against, with no social insurance payments being made, affecting the majority of the workforce.

In China, workers should get a pay-slip under labour law, but those making the Olympic mascots didn’t receive a pay-slip at all, and most workers interviewed said they had no idea how their wages were calculated. Those making pin-badges did get a pay slip, but it didn’t provide a clear breakdown of how wages were calculated.

Workers making goods for the ‘greatest show on earth’ shouldn’t need to depend on the lottery to enable them and their families to live in dignity, and at minimum, they should have their human rights and legal rights respected.

Following publication of this report the organisers of the London Games signed a ground-breaking agreement with the TUC on behalf of the Playfair 2012 campaign to take a number of actions to protect the rights of workers making Olympic goods in its supply chains. This is a positive step forward and the campaign will be working closely with the London 2012 organisers on delivering these commitments. 

Playfair 2012 is also working with Golden Bear Toys to help try to improve conditions in the factory investigated. But to ensure the lessons learned from London 2012 benefit Rio 2016 and all future Games, the International Olympic Committee needs to take responsibility and to act  to ensure that no workers are exploited in the name of the Olympics.



Read more on Playfair 2012

Sports Injuries we hate

Derval O Rourke European Championships zimbio

This is a guest post from Don Connigale, a freelance journalist, copywriter and regular runner who is currently working with a number of clients including No Win No Fee UK

KNEE PAIN

Knee pain comes up next, in particular the rather grandly named Osgood Schlatters  disease, to which young athletes (below the age of 15) are particularly susceptible, as rapid growth combined with intense exercise can really put a strain on the knee. As with most injuries, it is important to see a doctor and maybe even a sports injury specialist for diagnosis and treatment, as, aside from rest, there may be a number of stretching exercises that can help, as well as aids such as knee supports.

As always, do not ignore pain! It’s your body’s way of telling you to take it easy.

HAMSTRING

Up next is our old friend the pulled hamstring, the injury you’ll often see professional footballers limping off the pitch with before their ashen-faced manager announces to the press that the player will be out for a few weeks. It can occur in any sports where sprinting is involved though. Professional treatment may be required depending on the severity of the injury. As always, prevention is better than a cure though, so remember to warm up correctly, not to train on an existing injury, not to exercise one muscle group (e.g. the hamstring) without also focusing on the corresponding muscles (the quadriceps in this case) as the imbalance in strength can lead to injury, and not to overtrain or try to run when fatigued.

SPRAINED ANKLES

Sprained ankles are very common too, and again these can occur in any sport, but are particularly prevalent where lots of sudden turns and twists are called for (squash, football and other such quick-turn sports can be among the most hazardous here, although you can come a cropper even with straight-line running if you have the misfortune to land your foot in a pothole or similarly uneven surface). You’ll feel this one immediately, and the quicker you can treat it – by elevating the foot and applying ice (a bag of frozen peas should do the job) – to reduce swelling, the better. After that, it’s just a case of resting the joint until the injury is healed.

So most of these are preventable with a bit of common sense and even if sustained, getting the correct advice and treatment can considerably hasten healing. Look after your body and it’ll look after you!

The first part of this post with more advice is here.

Sports Injuries from high heels to running shoes without pain

UK runner Steph Twell, pic Nike UK

This is a guest post from Don Connigale, a freelance journalist, copywriter and regular runner who is currently working with a number of clients including No Win No Fee UK

Common Sports Injuries

While the sports injuries that make headlines tend to be the most dramatic ones, or ones that affect our top athletes prior to major sporting events (be honest, how many of us had even heard of a metatarsal before a number of England footballers – most notably David Beckham – managed to fracture theirs inconveniently close to a World Cup tournament?), the most common sports injuries experienced by the public tend to be more run of the mill and are often, fortunately, quite minor. It’s worth remembering that if an injury is due to poor coaching, incorrect treatment or being provided with the wrong equipment, you may be eligible for sports injury compensation.



Shin Splints
Most common of all, according to figures from Sports Injury Clinic, are shin splints. This is because running is such a popular, effective and affordable method of keeping fit and/or losing weight, but many of us set out and train too much, too soon. The key is to start gradually and build up slowly, particularly if you haven’t exercised for a while. Shin splints generally refer to pain on the inside lower half of the shin, and the injury is often at its most painful in the day or so after exercising, meaning you may not even realise you’re hurting yourself until it’s too late. It is perhaps this fact that makes them so common. The good news is, the injury is usually temporary and will pass in time, provided you rest and don’t try to “run through the pain”. In the mean time, you can stay fit with non-weight bearing exercises such as cycling or swimming. Then you can start running again, starting off slowly and not trying to cover too much ground, increasing your mileage by no more than around 10% each week.

Wearing good-quality running shoes is vital too, and visiting a specialist running shop is highly recommended, as everyone’s feet hit the ground differently (some roll in, some roll out, some hit the road flat) and there are specialist shoes to suit all types, and wearing ones with the right support for you can really reduce the impact on your joints.

Achilles Tendon 

Next most common is also a running injury, achilles tendonitis, which is basically heel pain. The causes are similar to those stated above – overtraining, incorrect running shoes, lack of rest – but can also be exacerbated by running up hills, which puts extra strain on this part of the foot. Particularly susceptible are women who wear high heels frequently when not exercising, as such footwear shortens the tendon and calf muscles, leading to additional strain when running in flat shoes. Sadly this one can take longer to heal, as there is limited blood supply to this part of the body. But the cure is basically the same: rest. And maybe think about wearing sensible shoes more often!

Professional Surfing a male dominated sport?

This is a guest-post from Mpora.com (hopefully the first of many!) Mpora covers Skate, Surf, Snow, Mountain Biking, Motocross or BMX, sourcing videos, photos and blogs to bring the best together. This post was written for ISW by the Surf Editor, Rebecca Clark, introducing three inspiring women surfers.

Professional Surfing a male dominated sport? They wish. With strong-willed, inspirational and accomplished women like Alana Blanchard, Bethany Hamilton and Erica Hosseini at its forefront, it's only a matter of time before women's pro surfing gets the equal coverage it deserves.

Bethany Hamilton is first up, a girl who even after suffering a shark attack in October 2003 surfing off the north shore of Kauai, which left her left arm severed, got back in the water and was competing again by January 2004. That just screams commitment ... or insanity, but I'll side with commitment.

Bethany Hamilton in Somewhere: Gadis-Gadis Latut

Her achievements include Best Comeback Athlete award in 2004 courtesy of ESPN ESPY and 1st place at the Explorer Women's Division, her first national title at the 2005 NSSA Championships.Outside competing, she's involved in huge amounts of charity work and is spokeswoman for Beating the Odds Foundation and World Vision International. Her autobiography "Soul Surfer" was made into a feature film in 2008 and she wrote a book for teens, "Devotions for the Soul Surfer"

Alana Blanchard can tackle intimidating of waves with the bravery and fierceness of a shark and master it with the grace of a dolphin. Well that's certainly impressive, and very believable.

Alana Blanchard

Well and truly leaving her stamp on pro women's surfing, she dominated competitions from the age of 15. She won first place in the 2005 Women's Pipeline Championships, the HASA State Championships and the Rip Curl Grom Search Nationals, results which lead to her being given the 2005 Triple Crown Rookie of the Year award.

Blanchard is regularly featured in sporting mags due to her intense dedication. Even non-sports mags like Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair want a piece of her, making her a key recognisable face for the sport. Well that and the surfing videos of her modelling the skimpiest of surf attire.

Finally, I bring Erica Hosseini to the table, the daughter of a former ski instructor who learnt to ski at 2-years old, and was water skiing and mountain biking by age 4. At 13, she began competing in the NSSA, but failed to rank.

The following year however, she embarked on a winning streak entering her first pro event and placing second. This broke a world record due to her being the youngest surfer to make it to the final of an ASP event. She then went on to win the Southwest Open Conference, Explorer Conference, Regionals, NSSA National Open Women's Title, and The Governor's Cup, taking her to 5 NSSA titles for that year. Not bad eh? Erica has since auditioned for the part of Willow in X-Men.

If you'd like to see anyone else from the Mpora site covered here, just leave a comment and let me know! 

Guest Post on Movie News First

pic credit speckham on Flickr

I was chatting the other day with some boys-who-like-sport and sports movies came up. There are so many great films about sportsmen. But women in sports movies? That was a little harder to list. But when Olive over at Movie News First asked me to write a guest-post, I did find some inspiring work for her.

My Top 5 women in sport movies are on her blog here Movie News First

Pop over and have a look, and please share if you have other faves not here! And as always, please leave a comment for her too.

Guest-Post on Shantiwallah

New Zealand Black Ferns Carla Hohepa

Today's post is in New Zealand.

I've been reading Shantiwallah and swapping thoughts on travelling, sport and food since last year. I finally got around to writing a guest-post. for you. Thanks Marie for the invite!

And on the night Munster (my local male provincial rugby team) beat Australia (male national team) 15-9, it's great timing to have a post up linking sport and travelling.

You can read the guest-post here on Shantiwallah  Do please leave some comments on Marie's blog - and have a poke around her travels in New Zealand.

Guest Post on The Glowing Edge

Lisa from The Glowing Edge blog asked me to go over there and continue a chat we'd started about why you need to be smart to box.

Her blog deals mostly with her amateur boxing life, with lots of great videos and tips for training and general health. Find my guest-post Boxing and Brains here.  Enjoy. Oh, and leave her some comments .... it's how the world goes round.