Fairtrade
Football
Give child
labour the boot!
‘Etiko’
Footballs are 32-panel size five quality balls,
with balanced latex bladders, and are fully compliant
with FIFA match ball standards. The Fairtrade
labels on three of the panels remind us that an
ethical product can be synonymous
with excellent quality.
The Team, in cool
blue, is ideal for aspiring young players, and
is hand stitched from quality shine polyurethane,
designed to minimise wear and endure the toughest
kicking!
The Premier is
great for training, recreation and match play.
Hand stitched from quality Cordley shine plastic,
it will impress professionals and amateurs alike
for its consistency and durability. Its sleek
red on white colour scheme makes it a cool accessory
for any team.
A
Fairer System for Football Stitchers
When Fairtrade footballs
first began to be produced near Sialkot, the ‘world capital of football
production’ in Pakistan, manufacturers
moved the previously home-based stitching work
into big factory units in order to prevent child
labour. However this move effectively locked
out women workers whose home duties meant they
could not be away from home for the whole day,
and who in an Islamic society could not work
in the same room as men.
The suppliers of Etiko footballs
are involved in a pioneering scheme where football
stitching
has been returned to the workers’ villages,
organised into small work units with dedicated
units for women.
The workers in these centres receive a substantially
increased wage for all Fairtrade balls, calculated
to meet the basic needs of a family, allowing
the children to go to school instead of having
to work. Furthermore, a basic health scheme is
provided for all those involved in production,
and in order to reduce the dependency of the
stitchers on export production, micro-credit
schemes improve the village level economy and
provide alternative or additional income opportunities.
To finance these changes, a Fairtrade premium
is placed on the price of each ball. And as with
all other products that carry the Fairtrade label,
compliance with Fairtrade criteria is subject
to constant independent monitoring, guaranteeing
a better deal for all producers.
The price of our balls includes a $2.60
premium which contributes to the health care and micro
credit schemes described above, the improvement
of working conditions, and above all to ensuring
that whoever stitched your ball has received
a Fair Wage. Size:
Size 5. Fully compliant with FIFA International
match ball standards, handmade
under Fairtrade conditions in Pakistan.
 |
Sameena Nyaz is 18
years old, single, and lives in a
village called Chak Gillan near Sialkot.
Sameena is her father’s fifth
child: he runs the snack shop in
the football stitching centre. She
goes there to stitch footballs too:
after home-based stitching stopped,
the centre was one of the first where
women could continue such work.
Sameena is one of 11 siblings; seven
sisters, four brothers. Two of the
older ones also stitch balls. Stitching
wages are low - only Fairtade buyers
pay enough to enable the three to
provide their family with all the
basic necessities. Sameena never
had the chance to attend school -
instead she has been contributing
to the family income from early on,
and has now been stitching for three
years. The family has a small hut
and a kitchen garden, in which everyone
helps out.
Recently Sameena had to have a thyroid
operation - the bandage on her neck
is still visible. All costs were
provided by the health care scheme
made possible by the Fairtrade premium,
a first for workers such as Sameena
and her family.
|
|
|
New
Internationalist The people, the
ideas, the action in the fight for global justice.
© Copyright 2007 ::..