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[Globaljustice] A new action from MSN: No-Sweat Vancouver Olympics

Hello;

The Maquila Solidarity Network is seeking your assistance to make Vancouver
2010 the first "sweatshop-free" Olympic Games.

The CBC is currently holding an on-line contest called the "Great Canadian
Wish List" on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2392827649)
in which individuals create on-line facebook groups to promote various
wishes for Canada in honour of the country's 140th anniversary. CBC says
"CBC News will be following the discussions on Facebook, looking for
patterns and trends that emerge. We'll also be reporting about the people
behind the wishes on CBC TV, CBC Radio, CBC Newsworld and online at
cbc.ca/wish. As Canada Day approaches, we'll summarize the top ideas from
Facebook, and come up with "The Great Canadian Wish List" just in time for
July 1st."

The Maquila Solidarity Network has created a "wish list" group wishing that
the Vancouver 2010 Olympics would go sweatshop-free, as a way of increasing
the profile of this important No Sweat initiative. But we only have a week
to get people online to support this wish!

So, if you are a Canadian member of Facebook, you can support our effort
with three easy steps:

1. Log in to your Facebook account and go to: http://tinyurl.com/3xfqge
2. Choose "Add Support" in the top right hand corner (under the photo)
3. Choose "Share" below the "Add support" option to send a message about the
group to the friends on your list. Encourage all of your friends to show
their support for our wish.

More information on the Olympics and why they need to develop comprehensive,
effective and transparent labour rights policies for their suppliers and
licensees is available on the MSN website at
http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/en/node/628.

Unfortunately, you have to be a member of Facebook to participate. It
doesn't cost anything to become a member, however. If you're not sure what
Facebook is, or how to join, you can read more here:
http://www.facebook.com/sitetour/

Or, if you aren't on Facebook and don't want to be, please forward this
email to someone you know who is on Facebook and ask them to spread the
word.


Here's what we say about our wish to make Vancouver 2010 the Sweat-free
Olympics:

It's been more than 10 years since the world learned that Nike's shoes were
being made by workers in horrendous conditions in Vietnamese sweatshops. By
2010, shouldn't a country like Canada be leading the way by having the
world's first sweatshop-free Olympics?

Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the
educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental
ethical principles.
-- Article One, The Olympic Charter

Safeguarding the dignity of the individual is a fundamental requirement of
Olympism.
-- IOC Code of Ethics

This month, a report was released finding child labour, forced long hours,
and unsafe conditions in factories either supplying the Olympics or
producing Olympics-branded goods. While the abuses detailed in the report
fly in the face of "universal fundamental ethical principles," the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) continually refuses to take
responsibility for the Olympic supply chain, passing the buck to local
Olympic committees.

For the 2010 Olympics, the buck rests with VANOC - the Vancouver Olympics
Organizing Committee. They've adopted an initial program that includes
labour standards. With some work, it could be a model for all future
Olympics. But it needs be stronger. With undercover researchers revealing
fabricated payslips, child labour, and flat-out lies from factory owners in
factories producing for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, it's clear that buyers
like VANOC need to be more vigilant in order to prevent workplace abuses in
Chinese and other factories producing its Olympic-branded products.

Surely factory workers are as deserving of dignity as the rest of us. Let's
safeguard it for generations to come.

Make Vancouver 2010 the No Sweat Olympics:
http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/en/currentcampaigns/Olympics/2010

The aforementioned report:
http://www.playfair2008.org/docs/playfair_2008-report.pdf
PlayFair 2008:
http://www.playfair2008.org/

Maquila Solidarity Network/Ethical Trading Action Group
606 Shaw St.
Toronto, ON  M6G 3L6
direct line: 416-533-1329
e-mail: kthomas@maquilasolidarity.org
www.maquilasolidarity.org